The Bush administration touts the fact that there have been no terrorist attacks on American soil since 9/11 as a measure of the success of the war or terror, but they are missing the point. Where an American dies is irrelevant. Whether on the streets of Baghdad, Basra, Bali, London or New York, a death is a death.
We have now lost 3000 Americans since 9/11. How can anyone say with a straight face that we are safer? The war in Iraq has now almost eclipsed the duration of WWII against Japan. That war was akin to containing a wildfire with an endgame in sight throughout. The war in Iraq seems to get worse by the week and month and there has been no containment because there is no defined enemy.
There is nothing to cut and run from except hatred. There is no army or force to defeat. There is no discernible enemy to root out. We must leave Iraq in an orderly fashion and turn the nation over to the Iraqis. Whether the nation stays together as a loose federation or breaks up into distinct sectarian and ethnic regions, it is not our concern at this point. We have done all that we can do.
I don't believe either the democrats or the republicans have a definite plan. We will have to wait for the Baker report to be released after the election. While they may not have any new ideas, they may have formed an educated consensus rather than staying the flawed course.
So it really does not matter where Americans die. A death is a death to the family members left behind. Who is safer today? Only air passengers can truly feel safer.
