The Iraq War is held an important issue by 89% of the voting public, and is still the number one issue for between a fifth and a fourth of voters.   Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have staked out distinctive positions on American policy in Iraq. This presentation will present the speaker’s own understanding of the social and political situation in Iraq and the ways in which it has been depicted in the campaigns and the media, with potentially fateful implications for an epochal election. From the Series:Luce Public Lectures in Global Religion and Human Security