What criteria can Pres Bush use to know when we won the war?

Question

The repressive Hussein regime has been topled. We thought that was the beginning of the end of the war.

How wrong we were. With the insurgents bombing away at people and places, it seams the war is far from over.

What has to happen or not happen and for how long before Pres. Bush or the new President can detrmine to pull out the soldiers?

It appears to me, that there is no threshold that can be defined that would be suitable to determine when the war is truely over.

No matter how many peace treaties are signed, there can/will always be a group that is not satisfied with the treaty and more blood will be shed.

I have never heard this question asked. Perhaps it was asked but I am not aware of it.

So, would any one like to share their insights as to how we know when to pull the troops out of what appears to be an endless conflic?

Answer 1

The only way for that war to be truly over is for everyone to stop killing each other. But even when that happens, there will be no winner. Too many people have died and too much hate has spread for anyone to win.

Answer 2

Toppling Hussein was the technical end of the war. What has happened since is an insurgency that grew out of a series of blunders right after the end of the fighting. The criteria for the US leaving is basically that Iraq has to be able to take care of its own security. This means a well equipped, well trained, self-sufficient army and police force. So far, achieving this has been like walking up a mountain of sand--for every two steps forward, you slide back one...and sometimes five or six. We don't have to crush the insurgency to be able to leave, we have to get the Iraqis to the point that they can take over for us. Then the bulk of our forces can withdraw while a small cadre of advisors remain to continue the training program. This has been stated publicly on several occasions by the President and Sec. of Defense (Rumsfeld and Gates, both), as well as the commanders in Iraq.

Answer 3

His criteria have no relevance now. He has lost the support of his own party and those whom he chose to help him. He has lost the support of all decent human beings all over the world. He has lost the support of his conscience too. The ugly ego within him has turned away from what ever was kind and gentle in his father too.

Having suffered so much losses in the war, the war machine has taken over. That monster uses the soldiers as pawns and smooth talks about stability and democracy upon a foreign land and people only as a front to establish a long term presence in the area to ensure a secure link to black gold beacuse it is a do or die situation.

You have asked some excellent questions and you raise a very major point.

Yes if this monkey can be thrown on the backs of the democrats at the right moment, maybe they will have four more years to carry on this horror show where they are clearly not welcome.

So how do we exit and somehow feel safe? Every day we spend there we are creating more hate, we are infact doing what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians, so now we have more enemies than we ever had before.

How do we convince them that we care for them? Or have we reached a point where we really don't care..?

Answer 4

I think that at this point, there won't be a clear cut "victory day" as there was in WWII. What needs to be accomplished for our troops to withdraw are three things.

1) A stabilized Iraqi national government. The Sunni, Shia and Kurds need some sort of agreement, even if it is mainly provincial rule, with a loose national government.

2) Iraqi police forces need to be at a level that they can handle internal conflict. Once we leave, the suicide attacks may slow down, but won't stop. They need to be able to provide internal security.

3) Iraqi military forces must be at a level where they can defend their borders. If they are not able to, other countries would consider the oil fields fair game for invasion. This could result in Iran, Syria, or other nations controlling Iraqi oil.

If we withdraw before these goals are reached, the country would likely destabilize further, creating a worse situation than we have now.

Answer 5

the war is over. what's going on is more akin to the IRA in the UK back in the 70s and 80s except with interference from the outside, from 2 sides, radical Islam and the US. the war was over a long time ago.

Answer 6

Intermittant, scattered internal conflicts will probably last for years, but when the government is stable enough and the militias are ready to maintain stability in Iraq, for all intents and purposes, the war will be over.

Answer 7

When Halliburtin has ALL of the tax payer money!!!!
At last...........VICTORY!!