Sailed? It's burning in the harbor, blocking our port. We're not debating a point of historical interest in the Peloponesian wars, here.
We got Saddam, we got the WMDs, such as they were, we got what we went into Iraq for. Our military is agile and fast, and was able to shatter the old Iraqi military and government in a few weeks. We're all over that, and we can do it pretty cleanly, too.
That's warfighting, not occupation. Forcing a new form of government on people that don't want it isn't a task for people not willing to get their hands dirty. The Iraqis are glad to be rid of Saddam, but that doesn't mean they still want us there.
"That's warfighting, not occupation. Forcing a new form of government on people that don't want it isn't a task for people not willing to get their hands dirty. The Iraqis are glad to be rid of Saddam, but that doesn't mean they still want us there."
Expert: Most Iraqis want U.S. to stay
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8403994/
>> But that ship has sailed.
> Sailed? It's burning in the harbor, blocking our port.
I meant that the time for acting early to quell the factions is done gone.
> That's warfighting, not occupation. Forcing a new form of government on people that don't want it isn't a task for people not willing to get their hands dirty. The Iraqis are glad to be rid of Saddam, but that doesn't mean they still want us there.
I agree with you here. Because the war planners didn't get a handle on completely subduing and maintaining the country's peace early on (although our troops executed the mission they were given superbly), we now have an exascerbated situation. We can't cut and run, but we can't stay indefinitely either. I'd like to see a better strategy coming out of our administration than "stay the course". I trust them more than the Democrats, surely, but that's not saying a lot...