Based on his statements during visits to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, it appears General Barack Obama is planning to have us stay in that dangerous part of the world for a very long time -- much longer than Sen. John McCain.

Obama has the prerogative to change his mind -- as he's done so many times already -- but based on his new grand strategy for fighting the war on terror, Obama intends to escalate the war in Iraq and possibly send U.S. troops into Pakistan, where the Taliban (and Osama bin Laden) are hiding.

And if Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq leads to a collapse of the fragile Iraqi government and intervention by Iran, the U.S. will have to return to Iraq and fight both the terrorists and Iran.

So let's review. If we follow the Obama plan, we will end up fighting in three or possibly four countries instead of two. Does that sound like the same man who won the Democratic Party nomination by promising to end the war in Iraq on the say he is sworn in as president?

If you like the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama is your man. He will not only continue it during his presidency, but escalate the war.

Dick Morris offers some advice for John McCain on how to deal with General Barack Obama.

From a new column by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann:

McCain needs to hammer at one basic theme: that Obama's pullout plan will lead to a third Iraq war. The Democrat wants to keep substantial numbers of troops next door, to go back into Iraq if necessary. McCain should stress that a premature withdrawal will lead to a collapse - losing the hard-won stability in Iraq, opening the door to an Iranian takeover and al Qaeda revival, and potentially forcing a new US invasion.

Obama isn't a peace candidate, McCain can say - just an advocate of a deferred war. Just as the first President George Bush left the ingredients in place for a second war when he failed to depose Saddam Hussein in 1991, so Obama will fail to finish the job and invite yet another war if he abandons Iraq before our gains have been consolidated.

With Ralph Nader running on a strict antiwar platform, Obama is vulnerable on the left. If he seems to falter on a withdrawal from Iraq, or leave the door open to re-entry, McCain's attacks can drive liberals away from the Democrat.

It's literally true that if McCain is elected, there will be fewer US deaths in Iraq than there will be if Obama prevails. By pulling out only when it's safe to do so, McCain would finish the job and allow a peaceful transition to a stable democratic government. If we pull out too fast - and then have to go back in - the casualties will be many times those we now face.

Read the rest of MCCAIN'S WAY FORWARD at the New York Post Web site.