Well, the situation now is a nightmare. A year ago I believed we had a responsibility to clean up our mess. Now, I believe that regardless if we stay ten more minutes or ten more years, the minute we leave the sectarian slaughter begins. We can’t postpone the inevitable, so the time to leave is now. Sounds harsh, but considering that the alternative is to continue to feed our troops into that meat grinder, we might as well control what we still have some influence over. Phil

Why do you bring up the terrorist arguement when trying to defend what is now obviously an unjust war,and a civil war? The problem is a civil war, between Sunni and Shia, a centuries old unrest we uncovered, and “poured gas on.” What percentage of those in Iraq are true terrorist in that they are likely to go to the USA or allies to do significant harm? I suspect it is under 2%. Pakistan has a much higher percent of population who are likely to be true terrorists. To stay is not to defeat terrorism, but simply to play policeman for a civil war we unleashed, where both sides like to shoot at the police (USA).

I agree on the dunderheadedness but I see it on both sides. I think Bush is right that we have a moral duty to mitigate the damage we’ve done (although he lipsticks that pig before letting it out in public) but the Democrats are right that thinking this President capable of succeeding is to ignore 1.5 terms of uninterrupted failure. I think leadership from Congress is to do exactly what you said they shouldn’t (with the agreement of most people smarter and more knowledgeable than I.) By legislation and trailer bill language start taking control of foreign policy and by hearings start making transparent what has been hidden, exactly what has the thinking been? How shallow? How deep? The administration has no moral credibility and no claim to the authority it has other than a strictly constructed interperetation of the constitution, but if we are going to salvage the credibility and authority of the country as a whole, or even look in the mirror, our commitment is open-ended. Bush deserves to get his butt handed to him by congress. The Iraqis deserve the good faith of the American people and that requires, sadly, staying in this war we started.

WE DID NOT CREATE ISLAMIC TERRORISM AND FIGHTING. The Democrats are also not being seen as bullies for any other reason than that they are bullies. What socialist isn’t? David, I implore you to wake up from your slumber of thinking that “The Left” is anything other than totalitarian bullies.I’m quite satisfied, that the Democrats are just acting like what they truly are and feel impowered by MoveOn.org, to come out of the Marxist closet they have feebly tried to hide in. The Democrats offer nothing for Americsa but a further slide into moral decay, that they implemented in the first place.Their hysteria over President Bush, starts with their hatred of Christian culture and morality. President Bush IS a leader. But one thing he, and you David Kuo, don’t seem to realize, is that evil people do not want to be led by Christians, or a morally sound government.We are seeing Democrats for who and what they are. They don’t want peace in the middle east, far from it. They just want what the modern Marxist always want. Complete despotic rule over the populace. Read about Marxism and see the definition of today’s Democrat.

At $128 BILLION, that’s over FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS for every man, woman and child in America to be spent on war. No wonder you can’t yet dream of universal health care. No wonder your education systems have to have bake sales to put pencils in schools. No wonder your roads (and other infrastructures) are in such disrepair. And all because of lies. Priorities, people.Priorities! Oh, and a P.S. to Donny: I implore you to wake up from your slumber of thinking that “The Right” is anything other than totalitarian bullies. President Bush IS a leader – an incompetent, lying one. But you are right, people do not want to be led by Christians (there should not be, after all, ANY “religious test” to hold public office). But they DO want a morally sound government – if only you HAD one.

The only totalitarian bullies I have ever met were Liberal Democrats.I find it easy to convince young people of the badness of Democrats. I ask them how much of the money they earn from working should they be allowed to have. Most say all or most. I then tell them about the taxation plans of Democrat politics. They say that that isn’t right, that they should be allowed to decide what to do with their own money. I welcome them into conservative goodness. This isn’t a right versus left issue. It is right versus wrong.

Donny — As you were no doubt taught in the military leadership is based on Courage, Candor, and Competence. Which of these have the AWOLs, drunkards, shirkers, and liars in the White House dipslayed? Will Bush diappear with 17 months remaining like he did beofre? Will he tell the truth about politics rather than justice at the DOJ, will he rid of himself of the admitted thief, liar and forger Rove? Will we ever learn the ral intel on Iraq? Will Cheney finalyy place the country beofer his “other priorities”? And if you want to see Marxist economics in action, Circuit City just practiced it on their workers.