John T. Bennett writes in the Intercepts blog that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) threat to block Gen. Martin Dempsey’s renomination as Joint Chiefs Chairman might go beyond Syria today and instead be rooted in their relative positions regarding the Iraq Surge.

Bennett reviews a 2006 exchange between McCain and  then-U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid where Abizaid names Dempsey as one of the professionals he consulted who told him they didn’t believe a surge would work (McCain was pro-surge).

Bennett writes: “What’s clear is the Iraq war continues to hang over U.S. national security issues like a black cloud. And that is more troubling than any temporarily delay in a nomination spat some might dub silly.”