And though he claims to agree with his running-mate Yevgeny Primakov that a ground operation would be a mistake, he did so in such a way as to throw doubt on whether he really meant it.
While the Balkans did net the Germans a reliable source of oil, attempting to squeeze an invasion of the Balkans and Operation Barbarossa into the same summer was a gigantic mistake.
It heard Dr Abdullah had told the hospital's consultant that she was competent to perform the appendix operation but initially had not realised she had taken out an ovary by mistake.
"Make no mistake about it: It was the president of the United States that shouldered the burden for this operation, that made the hard decisions, " McRaven said.