Is McCain's POW story a lie?

McCain likes to tell a story from when he was a prisoner of war, of a guard who eased his pain by loosening his bonds and who later drew a cross in the dirt on Christmas to signify that he was a Christian. Its a fantastic story, but is it true?

A number of sources have cast some doubt on McCain's story. A circumstantial argument can be made that McCain's story just doesn't pass the sniff test. First, when McCain was debriefed by the military following his return, nothing like this story was mentioned. Its an incrediable story, why not mention it. And second, the most damning, the story is just too similar to the one told by the cold war dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his novel The Gulag Archepelago. The novel describes Solzhenitsyn's time in Soviet Gulags, and McCain has stated that it is one of his favorite books.

Thanks to TexBetsy for pointing out the video.