Iraq: won or lost?

“The war is lost.”

Hmmm, not a very encouraging thing to say in the middle of a war. Sounds defeatist. Sounds hopeless. Sounds un-American.

Let’s then try the other option in our wonderfully American black and white world view.

“The war is won!”

Hmmm, like “Mission Accomplished,” that sounds . . . hopeful.

If we won, then the bad guys would give up and throw down their weapons and acquiesce to our troops.

If we won, the people would be glad we are there.

If we won, we could bring home our troops just like a winning football team after a road victory.

If we won, we could have a ticker-tape parade.

If we won, there would be peace on the ground and the folks there would start cleaning up and rebuilding.

If we won, everyone in the world would be either awed or afraid of us.

Somehow, I don’t think we will ever have that kind of “win” in Iraq.

No one thinks our enemies will throw down their arms. No one thinks we are wanted by the majority of Iraqis after the way we destroyed their aging infrastructure and failed to put enough resources into rebuilding it . . . unless one thinks Halliburton’s healthier bottom line was worth the half trillion dollars we’ve spent so far. No one thinks we can pretend we won and pull our troops out and have a ticker-tape parade. In fact, it appears that since we are the target of Al Quaeda and of the insurgency, our absence could lead to more peace so the folks there can clean up and start rebuilding once they‘ve resolved their civil war which we can‘t stop. What does the world think of us now?

In good old American black and white thinking, if we haven’t won and can’t win, then what’s left?