On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain delivered a "major" foreign policy address, in which, as part of his defense for a continued presence of U.S troops in Iraq, he positioned himself as a "realistic idealist," someone who is acutely aware of the cost of war.

"The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die," McCain told the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. "Commerce is disrupted; economies are damaged; strategic interests...