[Alberta's Child]

Buchanan has an excellent point here. This is precisely why the U.S. has no business getting involved in military engagements like this -- our leaders are elected by people who have an attention span about as long as a 30-second TV commercial, and anything of this magnitude that doesn't deliver the desired results within a week is going to lose public support in a hurry.

[berserker]

... people who have an attention span about as long as a 30-second TV commercial ...

Some of these people pay attention when needed:

T.J. Kewatt, left, touches the casket of his friend and cousin, Pfc. Edward James Herrgott, as he and others grieved at burial services in Shakopee, Minn., Tuesday, July 15. 2003. Herrgott, 20, was the first Minnesotan killed in the war in Iraq, shot by a sniper while guarding the National Museum in Baghdad, July 3. Kewatt, from Shakopee, was also serving with the Army in Iraq when his cousin was killed and accompanied Herrgott's body home. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

[mr.pink]

I agree very much with your noting the TV conditioned attention span of too many Americans (everything wrapped up neatly and happily in 30 mins to an hour) as a not to be dismissed dynamic that will come into play as this situation becomes prolonged.