  We study the effect of drag induced by the Galactic hot halo on the two
neutral hydrogen (HI) cloud complexes associated with the Large and Small
Magellanic Clouds: the Magellanic Stream (MS) and the Leading Arm (LA). In
particular, we adopt the numerical models of previous studies and re-simulate
the tidal formation of the MS and LA with the inclusion of a drag term. We find
that the drag has three effects which, although model-dependent, may bring the
tidal formation scenario into better agreement with observations: correcting
the LA kinematics, reproducing the MS column density gradient, and enhancing
the formation of MS bifurcation. We furthermore propose a two-stage mechanism
by which the bifurcation forms. In general, the inclusion of drag has a variety
of both positive and negative effects on the global properties of the MS and
LA, including their on-sky positions, kinematics, radial distances, and column
densities. We also provide an argument which suggests that ram pressure
stripping and tidal stripping are mutually exclusive candidates for the
formation of the MS and LA.
