On The Mark -- No Time to Cut and Run

The talk is heating up about pulling our troops out of Iraq. Forget it. Ain't gonna happen. The analogy to Vietnam is becoming more prevalent. There are similarities, but those relate to the respective administrations lying to the U.S. citizens and mismanagement by the Pentagon. What we're fighting for is vastly different. In Vietnam we were fighting the "dominoes." In Iraq, we're (now) fighting for something much more tangible. Oil. Survival.

If we pull our troops out, the entire Middle East will turn into Armageddon. Iraq will turn into a legitimate civil war. Iran will rush in, not to mention Russia, and heck, why not China? Saudi Arabia will eventually become vulnerable. WE will become vulnerable, because we haven't learned how to survive with less oil.

It's a mess. We never should have invaded in the first place. But it's no time to cut and run. In fact, we need to do the opposite. We should send in another 500,000 (or more) troops. Secure the borders. Yes, I hate to say it, a total and complete occupation in hopes that the situation will eventually settle down (with "hopes" being the operative word). Get the infrastructure in place so the citizens can have running water and electricity. Squeeze out the insurgency.

It's the only chance we have. The current "strategy" isn't working and won't work. Pulling the troops out will create chaos.

Someone who has influence on Bush needs to have the balls to say to him, "Mr. President, you have to come clean with the American people. You have to be honest and say it's not going well, we've made mistakes, and then tell them what we're going to do to fix it."

It's time for Bush to put his macho, Texan ego aside, get back to DC, tell the American people the truth. In other words, be a leader. If he did this, his approval ratings would soar.

If he thinks everything is going according to plan, and keeps trying to erroneously compare the situation in Iraq with how the U.S. democracy came to be, then I'm afraid he truly is delusional. There's no other logical way to look at it.