Originally Posted by nuttyjoe

I'll agree with you on that sir. One thing America still needs to learn is that sending our troops into foriegn countries is not something to be taken lightly. Too many people thought that Iraq was going to be a "Boy Scout Jamboree" lasting maybe a month-what a grave miscalculation. Our politicians do not seem to understand that there will always be a segment of America that is against American intervention anywhere, for any reason, and this will always create problems when such a situation arises.
I'm not a politician or a diplomat; I think our whole problem was in the lack of planning for this involvement. I believe that we failed miserably to plan for the "war termination" phase. America was caught up in removing Saddam Hussein from power- but we did not, and still don't understand the total control he had over every aspect of life in Iraq. And our politicians all talk as if they have the solution. Democrats blaming Republicans, but cannot offer a solution themselves; all the while forgetting that they also endorsed this misadventure. The real solution, as I believe, actually came from Bush Sr. during the time of Desert Storm, "The Iraqis may have to take things into their own hands". The fact that they did not attempt to should have been a signal to us then. Now, we are stuck in the quagmire of the Middle East politics, and there is no apparent way out. We cannot just pack up and leave- America would lose all credibility in the world. Vietnam, anybody?