One thing that I can agree with most folk - war sucks! As one who has participated rather than watched from the sidelines, i vouch that it makes for a lousy time.

Having seen firsthand and participated in the resulting destruction, I sure don't want to ever see war on this side of the oceans. So, being a selfish type, if its going to happen to humankind - and no amount of pandering, posturing or patronizing will prevent it - then better over there than here. Just count the number of wars actually going on today, though we just don't choose to notice many of them!

Believing that you can just say "Uncle," or simply packing up and leaving will make everything rosy is to not understand the mindset of the opponent(s). Sure, it would be good if a nice "why can't we be friends?" or "I'll say I'm sorry if you will quit" or other such rhetoric would end it all. It just isn't that way, and anyone wishing that was it has failed to accept a few millenia of human history.

Would it be nice if we could just pack up tomorrow and leave Iraq? Yes, it would. And then what?

At the end of WWI that's pretty much what happened, and the result was an even bigger bang 20+ years later - taking many more lives the second time around with even greater devastation. The only thing we may have learned (hopefully) is that the Neville Chamberlain tactic of "maybe it will just go away" is a fantasy.

At the end of WWII (and there were still hostilities in pockets of Europe and casualties happening after VE-Day) we stayed, and stayed, and stayed - rebuilding, protecting, teaming with, culturally melding and many other things. The result is the Europe of today - no wars among the Europeans, improved standards of living across the continent, stability, cultural acceptance (pretty much, anyway), 60 years worth!

Would Europe - democratic, stable, the states accepting of its neighbors, forming a new union (the European Community) - be what it is today if we had cut and run?

We left Vietnam and its still in the economic dark ages and fighting with its neighbors - we stayed in South Korea and it is now an economic giant, much to the chagrin of North Korea from whom the Chinese skipped away at the end of that fight.

The old line of "If we ignore History, then we are doomed to repeat it." Is that what's happening now with the cut-and-run talk, or do we now think we are so much smarter now that WWII, South Korea and Vietnam were enigmas which WE can handle now differently - with no plan, no history to back it, and no concurrent support from the opponent(s).

I don't relish the thought of having to fund or field another Stability Force as we did in Europe and South Korea, but I sure don't like the alternative of leaving something half-done which is how WWI found itself with that armistice. The downstream cost of cut-and-run is too brutal.

Perhaps Senator McCain is just being realistic (that's good) - he's been in harm's way and knows firsthand the cost. His curriculum vita has harsh entries as a result of war. I don't like hearing talk about having to stay in Iraq for many years to come, but I appreciate candor versus the "promise them anything, as long as I get the vote" line. Bitter pills may be tough to swallow, but not taking the medicine can be fatal.

Perhaps Senators Obama and Clinton are being optimistic (that's good, too) - having had the luxury of being spectators to the hell of war due to others accepting the challenge. I wish one of them had the miracle cure for this war, but if either does, why isn't that plan laid out now in explicit detail rather than waiting for another year to go by? If they have the cure, share it before more are hurt, now and in the years to come. No one would welcome it more than me.

My vote is still up-for-grabs, but it can only be gotten by honestly and substance. There's still a long time left before the election, and I'm still waiting . . . . .

There WILL be change ahead. Whoever gets the job, my prayers are with him/her. I just hope that the new administration has gotten an "A" in History, or else we're all in for a "D" in Life Science.