Back to the War, the election’s almost over

Regardless of which set of clowns win tomorrow the question still remains on how the war will be handled. Will the Prez. and his goons revert to the “stay the course” mumbo jumbo or if the Dems advance in the elections will it have any effect?

Sebastian Mallaby’s article in the WashPost brings up the thinking from academic experts on Civil wars. Their conclusions are not encouraging:

• Civil wars last longer than interstate wars, avg. of 10 years.
• We could take sides but neither one is palatable.
• Could hang on in Iraq and hope for a political compromise – but sectarian conflicts tend to rage on more than ideological ones.
• Each side is splintered into multiple groups with varying agendas so a negotiated settlement will not be trusted by all the parties.
•  Wars that end in negotiation tend to do so only after they have fought to a standstill. The Iraqis are currently at the dress rehearsal stage, the Americans are not allowing play to open.

So to get to a peace settlement the warring parties will have to fight it out and expend their options.

This is a nightmare scenario considering our civilian leadership’s stubbornness in sticking to “staying the course.”

What is it that they know to be so certain about their policies that contradicts all the best minds in the serving military, the retired generals and thinkers and other experts outside the military and government? I think that they are in way over their heads, but in their arrogance and stubbornness think that a policy change shows that they are weak and uncertain.