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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hoa Hao who wrote (147415)	11/17/2005 4:22:40 PM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793928

I have not read the articles you have linked but I hope they do not suggest that we need to get out of Iraq before the insurgency is defeated. Whether we like it or not, Iraq and Afghanistan are now part of our fight against the Jihadists, a fight we must win or run the risk of ultimately suffering substantial damage to our way of life. This does not mean that there now exists a shift in the original justification for the war in Iraq because, first, the original (and justifiable) goal of the war was accomplished and, secondly, things have changed with the participation of Al Qaeda in the insurgency. Its goal, clearly, is to make the fight a larger thing so that it can take over Iraq and establish there the base it lost in Afghanistan. I don't think this second aspect of things was foreseeable so I attach no blame for not accounting for it ahead of time. Moreover, I think that declining to act for that reason alone would have itself been a mistake. War is hell and is unpredictable. We have been in a state of war since 9/11, and our enemies have shrewdly not attacked us domestically since they know how effective we can be when roused. Instead, they are adapting the Vietnam lessons to the current situation. God help us if it works for them since, unlike the case in VN, our national interests are well and truly in play this time.