Somber Words

The New York Times Editorial is going to get ripped apart as defeatist by those on the right...and it is defeatist, but it is defeatist because, well, we've been defeated;

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the
Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit. ...
It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush's plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost. ...
Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation's alliances and its military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It is an increasing burden on American taxpayers, and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles.

It's not totally over, but it's time for us to get the hell out of Iraq, regroup, reorganize and continue the fight.

The only reason we're still in Iraq is our pride, our damn American pride...yes, even I have that pride. We don't want to ever admit we've been defeated, outsmarted, that we've lost a game...but here we have.

Iraq is merely a battle in the wider war on terror...we've never fought a war where we haven't lost a battle...Bunker Hill, Mackinac Island, The Alamo, Bull Run, Bataan, Osan, Saigon and now, very likely, Baghdad.