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You do well to quote me, because I still believe the strategic and tactical execution of the war has been different than I would have done. I have from the beginning favored a "Sherman's March Approach" followed by a partitioning of Iraq. Anyone willing to research these pages back to the beginning of this war can find that I was saying those things 4 years ago.

They will also find me saying that there is nothing "morally or logically wrong" with Pres. Bush's desire to build a democratic state in Iraq. I followed that: (1) I voted for him, (2) That he gets to set the policy, and that (3) I'd add my support. That is no different than a military commander's staff having a difference of opinion with him on how to take Hill 517. The boss gets to make the final call. If he chooses a method other than your own, you loyally go out and attempt to take Hill 517 HIS WAY. If his way fails, then you loyally inform him of the obstacles, and THEN you loyally present him with new options.

That's the way it works with commanders and kings, and a Cdr in Chief is owed that.

That said, 3000 dead 'IS' a tiny casualty count. It simply is, and any historian will tell you the same. We lost more in the first hours of WWII's D-Day that that.

There is no doubt in my mind that a great Information Warfare (please study this relatively new Information Operations take on an old military concept) Battle has transpired between the liberal power elite and the Republican power elite. It is clear that the liberal forces, with their ownership of vast media resources, have won resoundingly. Additionally, they were able to MAGNIFY a relatively minor casualty count through Information Warfare techniques. They were able to energize and give hope to the Iraqi insurgents and keep them fighting.

They have been proven successful.

If the President had had the media support that Roosevelt had in WWII, we would be polishing tanks in Riyadh in about a month, and this would all be over except the shouting.

Now, what would I do at this point? The time is past for us to break things in Saudi, Yemen, Pakistan, and Egypt. We might be able to justify a foray of sorts into government overthrow in Iran and Syria.

But, the easiest thing at this point is the partitioning of Iraq. We will have to pay off Turkey in some way to keep them from attacking the Kurds.

I certainly hope that I "do well to quote you", because I can honestly say that I have always believed that your approach to War is correct (or at least as "correct" as War ever can be). And you are also correct in saying that you have maintained your Argument consistently from Day One; you are the One Honest Arminian, as I have always admitted.

I reserve the right to disagree with your "Sherman's March" analogy (I personally believe that Lincoln was possibly the worst of all American Presidents, and Sherman was a War Criminal), but I agree with your sentiments as I understand them -- if War must be Done, let it be Done quickly.

They will also find me saying that there is nothing "morally or logically wrong" with Pres. Bush's desire to build a democratic state in Iraq. I followed that: (1) I voted for him, (2) That he gets to set the policy, and that (3) I'd add my support.... That's the way it works with commanders and kings, and a Cdr in Chief is owed that.

Yes, you have said that "there is nothing 'morally or logically wrong' with Pres. Bush's desire to build a democratic state in Iraq".

There is also nothing "morally or logically wrong" with a desire to transmute Lead into Gold, or a desire to transmogrify Farts into Perfume, for that matter.

There's nothing wrong with the desire, philosophically.... it just Can't Be Done.

Some 3,149 people were killed in June alone, or more than 100 a day, and the figure is likely to rise higher this month because of tit-for-tat massacres by Sunni and Shia Muslims... Overall 14,000 civilians were killed in the first half of the year says the UN. That figure would be the equivalent of 161,500 in the United States. Can you imagine the state of mind of Americans if Protestants and Roman Catholics were killing each other in these numbers? We would call it a return of the Thirty Years War (1618–48), in which half the population of Germany died in religious war.

That was the most devastating war on civilians in European history.

~~ (Gary North, "Tossing Greenbacks Into the Tar Pit")

President Bush can desire Democracy for anyone he damn well pleases... as long as every Sunni, Shi-ite, and Kurd tribe in Iraq is engaged in revenge-killings against eachother, as they have been for 1,000 years and it's only getting worse, "Democracy" is a fool's errand. A fool's errand costing the Republic thousands of Dead Americans, tens of thousands of Wounded Americans coming home with their limbs blown off, and hundreds of billions of dollars in new Deficits, new Debts, on top of the Trillions that Bush Junior has already Bankrupted the Nation's future.

Now, what would I do at this point? The time is past for us to break things in Saudi, Yemen, Pakistan, and Egypt. We might be able to justify a foray of sorts into government overthrow in Iran and Syria.

SIX MORE WARS?!?! Respectfully, Xzins, that is insanity. Are 3,000 Dead and 20,000 Wounded not enough? Are Half-Trillion Dollar Deficits not enough, with the U.S. Government literally BANKRUPT thanks to Bush Junior's spending and the American Consumer nearly bankrupt as well? And now, six more Wars? How much MORE Blood and Treasure must the Republic spend?!

No, I say. NO.

"Go in, Cuss, Break some Stuff, and then LEAVE." We must either Leave Now... or else End it Now. I could tolerate either option, as long as it means that we bring the Troops home by Christmas, and go back to the Old Republic ("no entangling alliances").

What I am about to say here is never mentioned in public by any government official. This is because it is obvious, once you are told about it.

In only one major world religion does geography have fundamental consequences.

There is one target with such enormous strategic importance that for it be taken out is so unthinkable that literally everything hinges on it – not just today, but permanently. This target is ground zero of a balance of power strategy that has been operational for 1400 years. It is a granite cubicle called the Kaaba. Inside it is a black stone, which Muslims believe was found by Abraham and Ishmael. For hundreds of millions of Muslims, this is the holiest of relics. If these two religious objects inside Mecca were ever obliterated, the survival of Islam might be called into question... That would make The Bomb more powerful than Allah.
~~ (Gary North, "Nuclear Agates in a Marbles World")

Orthodox Presbyterian Gary North just recently put into words what this Orthodox Presbyterian, yours truly, has been saying since September 12, 2001 (check my cites that far back, if you want).

END IT, NOW and FOREVER... or else go home.

I'm Anti-War. End the War. If Islam must be destroyed forever as a World Religion in order to accomplish that... Well, as long as US Troops can come home to their families without having to spend one more damn week in Iraq, I'm okay with that.