[cva66snipe]

Some never will get it. You win wars not by diplomacy but by brute force inflicted until the will to fight is broken. You don't build them houses, you don't send them money with apologies, and you sure as hell don't tie the hands of the very men who lay their lives and futures on the line to win the war. Our government from POTUS-congress needs to hold it's head in shame for making Iraq an impossible PC Boondoggle. Wasn't Nam enough? No indeed it wasn't King Lyndon of Texas the second took the throne trying the same restraints expecting different results. That is the real problem in this war.

[bigheadfred]

You win wars by brute force inflicted until the will to fight is broken.

EXACTLY

Our government from POTUS-congress needs to hold it's head in shame for making Iraq an impossible PC Boondoggle.

EXACTLY

[jude24]

Read Learning to Eat Soup With A Knife by John Nagl. It details how insurgencies must be combated with a three-pronged strategy using military force, political and diplomatic means, and economic aid. Keeping the local population happy and employed dries up support for an insurgency. A person with a stake in the political process and a job is less likely to plant an IED for $20. This is the underlying premise of the Petraeus approach, and the only reason we are seeing any success at all in Iraq now. Sheer overwhelming force would not have encouraged the Sons of Iraq to re-align with the US, and turn their guns against Al Qaeda in Iraq.