Willie Geist's genius as an observer of the political and pop-cultural scenes has been his ability to stay largely above the fray. But guest-hosting for Joe Scarborough on today's "Morning Joe," Geist let the curtain down enough to make clear his pessimism about the Iraq war and desire to have the US exit post-haste. At the same time, retired General Barry McCaffrey made no effort to hide his contempt for Barack Obama's foray into foreign policy regarding Pakistan.

Geist interviewed MSNBC commentator McCaffrey at 6:30 A.M. EDT this morning. McCaffrey at one point opined that he could envision the possibility of reconciliation between Iraqi Shias and Sunnis. Geist was not so sanguine.

MSNBC'S WILLIE GEIST: Could we possibly stay there long enough, though, to see a reconciliation between Sunni and Shia? We're talking years, possibly generations for that to change, aren't we?

Later, looking ahead to tonight's Dem debate, Geist's focus was on which candidate could extricate us from Iraq fastest.

GEIST: Which [candidate] gives you the best sense that they will help us end this war, get us out of there?

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Not win the war, not achieve our goals. Just "get us out of there."

McCaffrey, who served as Drug Czar in the Clinton administration, had kind words for Hillary.

RETIRED ARMY GENERAL BARRY MCCAFFREY: Certainly Senator Clinton has the most experience. She's been extremely balanced, which personally I've been proud to see. I think she's looking beyond the primary, beyond the election, and trying to lay down some markers she's be capable of living with if she's sworn in as the next president.

When talk turned to Pakistan, McCaffrey was fierce in his criticism of proposals to unilaterally invade the country if actionable intelligence about the location of terrorists became available. Neither Geist nor McCaffrey mentioned Obama by name, but he is of course the person who famously floated such a plan within recent days.

MCCAFFREY: All we need is another war. It's simply nuts . . . With this tiny military footprint we have in Afghanistan of 22,000 troops, another 20,000 plus NATO troops, it sounds folly to suggest we're going to unilaterally plunge into the tribal areas of Pakistan. There's 11,000 mud-walled villages up there. Pashtoun tribesmen, never governed by an outsider. Why would we think that would be a grand idea? Pakistan's been crucial to our success in the region. We've simply got to nurture whatever we can get in Pakistan and not make publicly threatening pronouncements about their sovereignty. For God's sakes. Can you imagine saying this kind of thing to the French, or the Mexicans, or the Canadians? What do we think their reaction would be?

Hmm, the French . . .

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.