I’m in the sad position of having a participant in this war, now home, tell me everything that I have not wanted to hear from the left. The policy has been exhausted by the recipients of our generosity, the Iraqis, and “whether it’s ten days or ten years, the outcome will be the same”, I’m told.

The central problem is Al Sadr, who is safe from our military, well-protected by some 50,000 supporters, and already infiltrating the Iraqi Army. Anyone who claims to have foreseen this problem is a liar.