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Right on compatriot!

My only questions are:

1. On what basis does any person who has any knowledge at all of the people who live there provide an estimate that any government that is formed will actually LAST. The 1950s are a clue into what will happen once we phase out our presence -- Communists (just about the ONLY locals who welcomed us in fervently -- did you see the NBC footage of a mob of Communists waving the party flag?), Baathist factions (Saddam held together a party structure that was deeply divided before he consolidated power), Shiite factions (and there are many), Kurdish factions, etc. are always going to be at each other's throats. Hundreds of thousands died in the 1950s and early 1960s civil war and chaos that helped the Baath come to power. Any semblence of stability and stabilization is only because we are going to be keeping 100,000 ground troops in the country through 2006 at least (the latest operational plan according to Washington papers). Are we really going to be there at that scale for 58 years -- like Germany?

2. Courtesy of the defense "buildown" of the Clinton years, we now do not have the effective force capable of keeping that level of commitment and confronting a far more serious danger -- North Korea. President Bush declared war on 3 countries in Jan. 2002 (it is irrelevant whether his advisors understood that they were -- "Axis" means one thing). "Resolve" is a function of achieving global war aims and enhancing the long-term security of our nation. How on earth can anyone argue that occupying Iraq instead of launching a full-scale moves into Pakistan (to sweep for OBL and cadres) and Iran, or preventive strikes on Iran and North Korea is a reflection of firmer resolve? IMPOSSIBLE!

There are surely no guarantees of anything in the Middle East and few other places as well; but we cannot be constrained in our good judgment and good faith for the future of Iraq which must be considered in the light of potential;

. . . and with our every effort designed to encourage the probabilities of that potential unfolding for the good of all in the Middle East and the rest of the world.

We can learn from the past; but the point of power is in the present and it is from here, that we must move forward, thoughtfully and determindedly.

We really have no other relevant choice.