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I agree entirely - this is the necessary risk. Saddam needs to taken out and after that, many others if we are commited to the root and branch destruction of Islamic terror.

The concern I have is in the jubilant, almost festive, attitude that seems to be springing up everywhere. Even the media seems to be getting on board for the idea of the imminent collapse of Baghdad.

It is my fervent wish that this will be the case.

However, I have been a conservative and realist for too many years to discount an enemy because they are on the ropes. It seems to me that an overly confident response to things invariably leads to a hill and valley kind of emotional analysis of things.

Recall the '94 victory and celebrations.
Recall the second Krinton elections.
Recall the Lewinski scandal and the Impeachment precedings.
Recall the Senate vote and the Democratic sneers.
Recall the 2000 election.
Recall the Democratic election fraud.

Now recall Saddam's promise to "incinerate" the allies at the gates of Baghdad. We know that too many nuclear items in the Soviet inventory are unaccounted for and Saddam is one customer that has tried to do his shopping well and early. A few moments ago, I read an Iraqi release that urged the fight to continue until the 'leaders' decided on the moment and method to "cleanse" Iraq of the invaders.

This thread began by making comparisons to Hitler and I would draw the readers attention to similar fantastic claims by Goebbles in the last days of the Reich. The wonder weapons he spoke of were not forthcoming. The weapons that Saddam may have may potentially unleash far greater consequences than the destruction of Baghdad and the allied forces there.

For starters, the use of large enough nukes may obliterate much of our military offensive capacity. This, in turn, would render much of the geopolitics of the region and world instantaneously different. Fanatical Islam would get a rallying martyr and a unifying victory over the infidel. I doubt if I miss my guess when I say that a detonation that wiped out our assualt forces concentrated in Iraq would be cheered throughout Islam with more fervor than 911, in spite of millions of Iraqi innocents being lost too.

These are some terrible thoughts that I think of when I hear the jubilation and cheers going up everytime a cruise missile hits its mark. Call me a pessimist, or worse, but I am of the mind that it ain't over till its over, over there.

And that task is a long, long way off.

When the troops are doing garrison duty, I'll celebrate.