John McCain was a hero. He showed courage and endured torture and hardships for years that most Americans couldn't imagine. And it's entirely appropriate that his campaign should point to the positive character attributes that one acquires from such an ordeal, and the knowledge and experience that one gains.

But that's hardly the full story. The Vietnam War, and the Vietnam experience, was much more complex and tragic than the simplistic cheering and flag-waving of gung-ho, pro-McCain, pro-war supporters. What wisdom if any did McCain acquire from his experiencing that tragedy firsthand, and in fact from his participation in the wartime atrocities committed in Vietnam? How does he feel about the hundreds of innocent Vienamese men, women, and children who died under the bombs he dropped on his 23 bombing missions? Has he learned anything from that? Or does he still believe, as does Bush, that even if we're not exactly sure of the enemy's guilt, let's go ahead and drop bombs now and ask questions later? We can absolve McCain of his guilt as a war criminal - given his age, and his role in the service, I don't really feel that that label would be accurate - but has McCain really learned anything about just and unjust war? His wholehearted enthusiasm for the disasterous Iraq War wouldn't suggest that he has not.

In that sense, John McCain's "war record" is much more of a negative than a positive, and a reason to vote against him.