Let's remember who and what got us into this mess in the first place. Wrong war, wrong place, wrong enemy, wrong intelligence, wrong ideologues.

We cut off the wrong snake's head out of ego and greed (oil) and created a hydra that will not be easily placated. The question now arises: Do we continue to occupy a nation that clearly seems ready to have us leave, or do we allow Iraq to return to its true tribal roots, which were arbitrarily ignored when Britain first created the "country"- for oil of course. These tribes have existed for centuries- isn't it arrogant of us to think we can simply resolve their differences because we displaced a violent dictator with a virtually unworkable government?


ANd who is the enemy? And who are our new friends? In Palestine, we screamed about the Palestinians having a free and fair election- and Hamas won handily in Gaza. Does that democratic process make them our friends? I hope not. We have a tendency to think that any fair election will result in a government that will somehow be created in the U.S. image. Doesn't work that way- Democracy is messy.

But cowboys don't want messy- They want the bad guy out of town by sundown or they shoot him dead at high noon, and then they leave the peaceful place they saved riding off into the west. Ain't gonna happen that way in a domestic conflagration- never does. Only if you're stopping an totally unwanted external invasion is there any hope of looking like the hero!