One aspect of McCain's thesis resonates with a theme we have hammered in detail. Quoting the article,

"Mr. McCain’s 1974 thesis, though, also revealed a welter of other emotions about his years as a prisoner of war, including a deep anger at those he considered collaborators, a tough-minded disdain for public hand-wringing about captives like himself, and a sharp impatience with the American government for failing to “explain to its people, young and old, some basic facts of its foreign policy.” "

I have argued for a long time that America's leaders must thoroughly justify its decision to go to war and prepare the country for the worst case costs of engaging in that war. I have also argued that we must develop and institute systems that will require them to do just that. We cannot require on the goodness of the individuals in charge at the time to do the right thing. Individuals are human and humans are fallible. That is why we need systems and processes that act as a safeguard to channel us to rational behavior in moments of emotion and vulnerability.

Here's a link to the article.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/us/politics/15pows.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th&adxnnlx=1213553769-1uobh/nbNqc9tGJG5bxk8g