[shrinkermd]

What people forget is there is a long, Christian antiwar tradition. This is particularly true for RCs. Also, do not forget that William Jennings Bryan was a late 19th century Democrat Presidential candidate and the Secretary of State in the Wilson Administration. He was adamantly against the war and resigned before it happened.

By the way, both Albert Jay Nock (died 1945) and Russell Kirk (died 1992?) came out against specific wars. In the case of Nock it was the Philippine Insurrection and WW I and for Kirk it was Gulf War I. Nock admittedly was a former Christian--he had been a pastor--but Kirk certainly seemed to continue his belief. My point is antiwar sentiment is a common theme among believers and could account for some of the recent findings--especially so since Americans notoriously hate long wars.

[ichabod1]

Americans notoriously hate long wars.

There is only one way to win against an insurgency. That is to crush it with an iron fist. To pursue the insurgents relentlessly, to give them no shelter, no respite, no haven. This is how the British crushed Shinn Fein in the 1920s and it is still the textbook strategy for a counterinsurgency. Trouble is, we're too nice. When we kill civilians we take the blame. The HELL with that. Civilian deaths should be on the heads of the enemy that put them in harms way.

It's a real frickin' pickle. If we leave, Iraq will become an America-hating, terrorist haven again - a platform for terrorism. Our strategic objective in taking out Saddam was to eliminate that exact same threat. It shouldn't matter if they become a democracy, as long as they're not a threat to us.

I'm almost with Savage in suggesting we ought to let Saddam be back in charge if he agrees to work with us like we did in the old days. I'm sure he'd be amenable to any reasonable arrangement.