[JoeFromSidney]

The problem actually began right after the defeat of Saddam Hussein's army. We put in charge a diplomat, Paul Bremer, who has been described as the most imcompetent proconsul since the days of the Roman Empire. He presided over the disbanding of the Iraqi Army, leaving the whole job up to our troops, and giving the terrorists plenty of trained troops to recruit from. In addition, we made the mistake of thinking that having the Iraqis vote would solve the problems of establishing a government, failing to look at places like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, were voting hasn't solved anything. Yes, the troops fought bravely and well. But at the top, there was no well-defined objective, and no coherent plan for achieving it.

[Cronos]

Correct. We should never have gone into Iraq. After Afghanistan we should have gone into Pakistan

[wastoute]

I learned a new phrase reading a FReepers fiction “A Century of War”. “Category Error”. You can not solve a problem you can not properly define. We are not “at war” with terror. We are at war with Muslims.