[red-beard]

#1. The war is over. The Iraq "WAR" ended in 2003. What we see today is an occupation and "Nation Building". So stop calling it a war.

#2. The economy is stronger and better today and for the past several years, than during the entire Clinton Administration. Unless you want to research the information, you will never know this.

#3. We are safer today that we were 5 years ago. As silly as some of the proceedures we go through on the air planes may seem, they are a vast improvement over the security we had before. We have not had any attacks on US soil since 9/11. We have helped foil many plots, including the recent planned attacks on US airliners.

#4. Have you been through immigration control recently? Do you know what a non-resident goes through coming into the US? Every one of them is photographed by an electronic camera, 2 finger prints are electronically scanned and these biometrics are compared against the known terrorist lists. We are doing a much better job than we ever have in the past.

#5. We _are_ fighting the wrong war. We need to call it what it is. A war against Militant Islamic Fanatics. I don't like the term "Islamo-Facist", since Facism is usually centered around a Dictator (Hitler, Moussolina, Stalin). Terrorism is a technique, not a philosophy. There was plenty of terrorism world wide before and there will be forms later. Militant Islamic Fanatics use terror tactics and the world media because it is a cheap way to sway world opinion. They do not have the resources to mount a real classic Military campaign.

#6. The rules of war. Virutally every major military upset occurs when one side doesn't follow the "Rules". Braveheart in Scotland. Colonial sharpshooters picking off the English officiers, etc. The only way to fight this fight, is to get as dirty as we need, to finish it.