Remember Viet Nam and Nixon's "peace with honor"? After Nixon almost
used up our Nato stockpiles, he declared agreement with the north and
victory. And split. Vietnamization.

NVA took a couple weeks to sweep the place.

Your comment about Muslim sects reminds me about some common wisdom
about the Gulf area some years back- Arabs might fight each other like
dogs, but will attack in unison any foreign intruder. For Dubs to think
we'd be welcomed with flowers is way beyond naive. Plain stupid.

For many years to come, the highest price we will pay for our
involvement in Iraq is the reelection of Dubs/Cheney/Rummy and
implementation of his short-sighted policies. (Meaning, once we were
in, many were reluctant to "change horses" for somebody with exercised
brains.)

J