GOP presidential candidate John McCain mocked Democrat Barack Obama today for saying he’d take action as president “if al-Qaida is forming a base in Iraq.”

McCain told a crowd in Tyler, Texas “I have some news. Al-Qaida is in Iraq. It’s called ‘al-Qaida in Iraq.’”

McCain said he didn’t watch Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton debate last night in Cleveland. But he said he was relayed Obama’s response when asked if as president he’d reserve the right to send U.S. troops back into Iraq to quell an insurrection or civil war.

Odd question for a Democrat. The words “civil war” to Democrats are the ready excuse to quit and run home.