Cannoneer No. 4,

This is a tad off topic, but just who do you think is going to proclaim VICTORY? How about if I state unequivocally that we (the US), have acheived VICTORY? Is that sufficient? Does it change any thing? How about if the next President of the US (whoever that is) states in front of the world, “We have acheived glorious VICTORY”. Now what? “Mission Accomplished” was proclaimed and look at the resulting uproar of “No it wasn’t!”,”Yes it was!”, ad infinitum.

Bragging rights for a particular ideology are not really important in the grand scheme of things, although they are personally satisfying. What is important is achieving important foreign policy goals in a cost effective manner, where the cost is measured not just in money but human lives, human potential that may never be realized. The benefit better be worth the cost when we ask our military to take on great tasks. Bragging rights at the neighborhood blog are not worth one extra life.