Consequences

Now is a good time for clear thinking and speaking. If we intend to succeed (and it is vital that we do), then we must persist. If the "surge" doesn't work, then more troops and different strategies should be employed.

If we are going to throw in the towel, then we should bring the troops home promptly, lick our wounds and prepare for the inevitable Third Gulf War, which we will have to fight under far worse conditions than currently. Either of those options are at least honest (although the latter is dangerously foolish).

But the current mentality in Washington -- to pretend that there is a third way between victory and defeat -- is morally despicable. Washington politicians of both parties are trying to salve their consciences for the ignominy of accepting defeat by fooling either themselves or the public into believing they are doing otherwise.

Perhaps they can fool their own flaccid minds, but history grades hard and true. And history may enter its ledger with shocking promptness.

--Tony Blankley

Blankley's right about most of the critics in Congress. They focus on the mistakes and the problems, feeding and feeding on the public mood, but few of them will face the strategy and consequences of withdrawal, as Pat Buchanan, for example, has done. Fewer still are prepared to discuss changes in our national strategy as a result of the war's consequences and lessons. Most are for interventionism, as long as the national interest isn't directly implicated (as in Darfur) and you can do it from the air (as in Serbia).