I think you hit it dead on the head Fossil -- and that is what is so frightening (not that you got it right, but rather the situation you describe). (A) We need to keep the fanatics from taking over. ( the ones in control throughout most of the middle-east now are relatively manageable because they are rational and do care about money. The problem is that thinking past (A) and (, one gets to: (C) The fanatics are not manageable because they are not rational and do not respond to ordinary economic and political pressure -- they don't give a f*^k because they see their calling as otherworldly; and (D) by deposing one of the previous gready but manageable leaders (Saddam) we (the US) have opened the door to fanatics taking over a country in which they had no real presence before (because they were brutally repressed -- not that we should complain).

We have, by our actions, created exactly the situation that Digger has rightly pointed out that we need to avoid. That is why at the moment we cannot pull out of Iraq. As much as I hate it, the truth is that it would be worse to cut and run because then we assure the world of the worst possible result. We broke it, now we have the responsibility. A la Colin Powell's WalMart principle.

I am afraid, however, that cut and run is exactly what Bush will do in 2006: Declare victory and begin the draw-down process in time for the November 2006 national elections. You can see Blair already going down that route.

The problem as I see it is that Bush & Co radically misread the situation and now have no clue how to deal with it -- quite frankly, nobody does. But I also do not trust Bush to actually care enough about the US and the world make a difficult decision and stick with it. He has, in the past, chosen his political party and its donors over the good of the country multiple times.

In my mind, we cannot aford to lose Iraq, and that is why we need someone other than the present administration running the damn show over there. It is kind of like an ill-advised take-over in the corporate world. What would the shareholders do? (1) Give the CEO who decided on the venture a couple of years to make it work; (2) fire his ass if he cannot show value; and (3) bring in somebody new to fix the mess. That is what this country needs to do.