Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
What does "victory" in Iraq look like? A stable democratic government where all three major ethnic groups coexist peacefully with no insurgency? Is that even attainable at this point? And if not, what's the next closest thing that is attainable?
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Thank you! This is THE salient point in this discussion. How do you define success, or even the point beyond which we (USA) should be pulling out? And once you complete that (purely academic) exercise how do you implement the parameters for measuring whether or not you've arrived at that point? And THEN, even if you can determine when you've arrived there, how do you exfiltrate??
There will be no white flag. There will be no laying down of arms by the vanquished. There is no vernacular for this war on which we can rely to understand it in our current reality. And yet, if we continue to stumble on, arrogantly believing that we can dictate what does and does not define success I fear we are going to be in for a long and frustrating campaign against an evolving enemy that is not operating under the same rules of definition or engagement that we are.
So ends my rant.