I ask again: what constitutes victory in Iraq?

[Telly Savalas]

Pottery Barners, please tell me, now that there's an Islamic theocracy set up there, what direction is this occupation supposed to be going? What are we hoping to achieve there?

I asked this question last week and didn't get a single non-sarcastic response. There are a lot of intelligent and knowledgable posters here who believe "we broke it, we bought it". A lot of them have many excellent ideas on how the occupation could be run much more efficiently than it is now. But I've not yet heard a clear exposition of what our objective in Iraq is. The closest we get are vague statements like "to stabilize the area" or "to establish democracy". Even if these did constitute clearly defined goals, are they even attainable? Is it right to gamble the lives of our service personnel to find out?

Senator Hagel, while being hopelessly wrong on many issues, nailed it perfectly when he said "'stay the course' isn't a policy". It's imperative that at least all Democrats understand this, if not all Americans.

So I ask again: if we're at war in Iraq, how do we know we've won?

[i miss america]

1. It is impossible to win. All we can do at this point is limit our losses.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Zero more deaths.*

* In the time that it took me to write this post, this objective has already failed.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I've been waiting for * to clarify and answer these questions since

late 2002. What is 'the course' we're supposed to be 'staying'? What are the objectives? What is the 'noble cause' that his family members avoid like the plague?

[barb162]

4. Several factors

terrorist attacks cease

the main Iraq groups are cooperating

police and army are trained

economy picks up

return to normalcy (working utilities, children in school, etc)

and a hundred or so other factors

Take a look at Japan after WW2, where a constitution was basically forced down their throats, we occupied their country, etc., and ask why things went so well there.

[evil eggplant]

5. once again we fucked ourselves

Same shit, different day.

The Iraqi regime will hate us, just like everyone else in the Mideast. Guess what?

We trained and armed bin Laden. What are we doing now in Iraq? Training and arming our next, newest enemy.

[mmonk]

6. When we

finish the mission and stay the course. We're fighting the terrorists over there so we won't have to over here. Everything's changed. 9/11. Sadaam.

:sarcasm:

[Inland]

7. An islamic theocracy. Or did you mean a US victory? nt

[FtWayneBlue]

8. giving the oil fields back to the Iraqis. n/t