What has happened since then is a steep slide into incompetence on the part of the Administration and an unwillingness or inability on the part of the Iraqi people to stop slaughtering each other and anybody else who happens to get in their way. The whole point of reasonable Bush critics is that the mess that the occupation has turned into didn't have to happen.
If the Iraqis can't get their act together then we should leave. We can go to de facto Kurdistan; they love us there. It is not our job to keep holding the Iraqis' hands if they can't learn to act like civilized human beings.
Suggesting workable alternatives for what is clearly a failed occupation policy is not defeatism or cowardice. It DOES NOT MEAN "Cut and run". It is being realistic in accepting that hey, maybe the way the Bush administration was running this thing before isn't working out so great after our troops have had to put up with three years of this BS because of Bush's shortsightedness and stubborness. To deny otherwise is to be either delusional, or stupid-and I know most Freepers aren't stupid.
Thanks, finally some clear thinking on this thread.