Reply #6: yep-- been there, done that, and lost everything in the end.... [View All]

They will never learn. This isn't a clash of armies. Like Vietnam, it is essentially an army (the U.S.) fighting against a partisan citizen resistence that is much less militarized than the NVA was. In other words, the oppositiion isn't the Iraqi military-- it's the Iraqi PEOPLE, and the only way to "win" is to pound the people-- a populace largely innocent of the initial causes for the invasion-- into numb and bleeding submission. "Winning" in Iraq can come only at the cost of becoming the monsters we (supposedly) set out banish. THERE SIMPLY IS NO FORMULA FOR WINNING IN IRAQ-- at least no honorable one, and no victory that can possibly be achieved is worth the cost.

We need to GET OUT NOW and pay reparations through the U.N. for the crime the U.S. has committed in Iraq. Yes, it will get worse before it gets better. That's a consequence of the war crime we committed when we invaded-- we cannot change that. Instead, we should insure the prosecution of the people who're responsible and help do what we can to mitigate the damage later. But the healing cannot begin until the U.S. leaves. Period.