When wars end

Wars don't end because of anti-war protesters and marches. Wars don't end because those who opposed the war suddenly prevail. No, wars end when war supporters determine the war can't be won or the cost of winning will be too high. That is why the war in Vietnam ended and that is why the debacle in Iraq will end soon, at least for America. Many of those who supported the war now realize it was lost within weeks after the invasion as a result of the incompetence of Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the Bush administration.

There is faith, and there is reason, and while each may inform the other, there comes a time when they must part ways. So it is in Iraq.

This is how Josh Trevino begins his three part post, Syllabus of Errors. While I may disagree that the war was ever winnable we certainly agree that it is lost now. I will leave you with Josh's concluding paragraphs in part three:

We stand at the precipice. Civil war in Iraq is upon us, and there are no good options. Acquiescing to the probable victor brings us grave moral compromise. Protection of the probable loser brings us a conflict we cannot afford. Withdrawal from the scene brings us yet more terrible dangers further down the road. It is a sorry situation in which the American Army and Marines are reduced to yet another militia in the Mesopotamian cauldron. The pity is that this was all avoidable. Every misstep that brought us to it was foreseeable and preventable. General Shinseki warned us about the undermanning. The world cried out against the precedent-setting looting. Many informed observers denounced the disbanding of the old Iraqi Army. And I was appalled at the repeated escapes, which we allowed, of Moqtada al Sadr.

We went to Iraq for the best of reasons. I believe that. I believe the mission was moral and achievable one. But it is as I wrote: I was wrong to think that the Administration of George W. Bush was competent to act upon any of the given beliefs. As we look into the abyss, we are forced to remember that someone had to dig it.

Yes my friends the war is all but over.