[Bob J]

"We defeated Saddam and his army but we were left to fight AL Qaeda and their allies as well as Iran, Syria and their allies in Iraq. Defeating Saddam regime was the first step in defeating terrorism in the Middle East and Iraq became the magnet for all the terrorists to come from all over the world to fight us and for us to kill them. Once we defeat them in Iraq, it is over for them for many decades."

Your rationale is not only wrong but dangerous. Jihadist Islam is a world wide effort of hundreds of thousands of individuals being orchestrated by hundreds of semi connected organizations and supported by a dozen wealthy regimes. Their goal is an Islam and Sharia dominated world and no single defeat of any one of their incarnations is going to deter them from their goal.

There are many very good reasons to stay the course in Iraq but doing so because one believes it will be a death strike to the heart of Islamic Jihad is folly.

[jveritas]

I know exactly what is the goal of islamic jihadists and their dream to establish an islamic empire that rule the world by the Sharia law. My point is that once we defeat them in Iraq, right in the heart of the Middle East and the Arab world, we will crush their ability to establish and fulfill their islamic empire. The islamic terrorists have thrown everything they have in Iraq, if they cannot establish their islamic empire starting in Iraq, it is over for them for many decades if not centuries to come. That is why the winning in the Iraqi theater of war is incredibly important to win the overall war on terror.