I was never against the war in Iraq. However I was against the way it was fought from the beginning. A blitz to Baghdad without securing the country as it was taken was a mistake as was not disarming the population. I understand that the administration thought that the Shiite would welcome the Allies with open arms. They did and then said get your asses back home so we can get our revenge on the Sunni. And make no mistake-the Shiite will get their revenge on the Sunni and the Kurds may get their revenge on both. I do not like half stepping into war. It just gets people needlessly killed. War should be conducted ruthlessly and totally or not at all. Anyone who is not in uniform and has a weapon must be shot on sight and no questions asked. There should never be a negotiated peace-only a peace that comes about by total surrender. Otherwise we get a peace that will last only long enough for the enemy to regroup and fight again. It is probably to late now to change the way the occupation is being conducted and our only hope is that one faction or another can gain enough control of a new Iraqi government that we can say we won and then go home and let the three factions duke it out until one comes up a winner--and maybe kills off about half the population while doing it. If I sound pessimistic it is because I am. The allies have the best trained, most capable, and strongest military on this earth. But no military can win a war the way this one is being fought. When it comes right down to it we have won the war and lost the peace because there is no one to turn the government over to and we didn't demand total surrender so we could establish one ourselves. Half stepping never gets you a victory. So, you ask, is there an answer? Yes, I tell you but you may not like it. A massive build up of Allied troops with an intense training program to train Iraqi forces for six months. The Iraqi government, such as it is, must be informed that we are pulling out and the ball is in your half of the court. We have trained your troops and we have provided you with the means to defend yourselves against the bad guys. We won, and we are going home. We have informed Syria and Iran to keep thier ragheaded butts out of it or we will flatten them like a pancake too. It is all up to you. And if you fuck with us we will come back and take your asses out just like we did Saddam. We did it once and we can do it again. Now get your Goddamed oil fields producing and we will all be happy again!!!!
