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Maybe- maybe not. But basic public services are hard to keep up when there is no reliable or strong national government and sections of the Baghdad are ruled by different gangs and crime bosses. This is one way it could go for Iraq if Bush tires of casualties in Iraq. It "worked" for Clinton. I am not saying it is moral. I am just saying it is a proven way to occupy Iraq without casualties and thus avoid domestic political fallout.

I feel terrible about one death or one wounded.If we retreat from our mission because of lack of will,I will have to rethink going in the first place.We may need to adjust and fine tune but retreat into guarded enclaves is not going to get the job done.The media stirs up all this gloom and doom!

There are NO warlords in Iraq with the Baath psychos killed off. This isn't Ethiopia, Afghanistan or Mongolia. This is a highly developed country blessed with oil, agricultural and mineral resources and a strategic port. Iraq can flourish economically, politically and socially.

The Kurds are game. The Shiites are game. The Sunnis are game. A thousand terrorists need to be killed. They will be killed.

This is part of our ongoing war against terror. This is a strategic springboard. You don't agree, that's fine. It's a legitimate issue.

But don't misunderstand the resolve and commitment of our President, military and economic managers to make Iraq a stable bulwark against the Terror Network forever more. This is a checkpoint on the mission.

And, as you and I discussed way back last fall (My December 15 launch date was off a bit), North Korea is going to change or we'll change them. This Hair Club for Men reject fool is threatening our citizens with nuclear attack.

Iraq. Iran. North Korea. That's the life center of the international terror network. They go down, every other Muslim despot starts to revisit their M.O.

If we're lucky, Americans don't die by the tens of thousands in chemical, biological or nuclear attack on our shore again and again. That's the REAL GOAL here, we don't give a crap about Mullahs and Omans and Sheiks and Muftis. We care about Americans. Every thing Bush is making happen is to create a safer world for American citizens in our cities and towns. If the Iraqi people win, if the Iranian people win, the Afghani people win and North Korean people win .... well, that's advantageous for our security and that's just a WIN WIN gumbdrop rainbow outcome.

We're operating at the source of the cancer spread. It's ugly work, it's dangerous and soldiers will die in pursuit of the mission. This is for the survival and prosperous well-being of 270 million of us, so they are not dying in vain.