Nathan

-THE CUNNING REALIST-: And On And On....: "Just as our political and military leaders continue to take short-lived victory laps when the insurgents decide to regroup for a few days, we keep hearing predictions about 'exit strategies' and 'timetables for withdrawal.' Whenever I hear that, I immediately check the news to see if we've invented a way to take the oil with us. Because unless we do, we're not leaving---ever. Why is that so hard to understand? Is Iraq less important to us than other places we've kept thousands of troops for decades--nations like South Korea and Germany that have no critical natural resources? What did Vietnam have? We were there for thirteen years. To placate the public, 'the need to train Iraqis so they can maintain their own security' will continue to be the mantra of the White House and Pentagon. As open-ended excuses go, it's perfect."