>I don't remember the exact context, but I recall an event we were discussing and you made the comment that you didn't think the event was as bad as some thought it to be, because you thought the American people wouldn't let the govt take it further.

I can't place the thread at the moment.

>I used to think that about the American people. But from what I can surmise about you, I would guess you are one of those types refered to in the old Charlie Daniels songs about meeting the communists with your rifle in hand when they tried to take over the USA.

Well, that could be taken any number of ways. But I do own a rifle, and have on occasion sworn to protect our country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And anyone I catch uninvited in my house is going to stain the carpeting.

>Don't these types of events make you go "hmmmmm?".

No. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Wolfowitz's report was not an actionable blueprint for world domination by the US. It identified potential threats, and proposed responses for them, in order to secure our position in the post-Cold War era. It was also published in 1992 - fourteen years ago. Joe Wilson and his yellowcake is such a twisted story that, to be honest, I don't know who to believe (but I'm not inclined to believe him). Vanity Fair is not exactly a neutral publication, and the CIA people that are allowing themselves to be interviewed all seem to have an axe to grind.

But never mind all that. History will sort out who to blame for what, but in the meantime, we are in Iraq, and regardless of how we got there, we owe it to both the American and Iraqi people to not leave until their government can stand on its own. One of the great shames of this country was our breaking of promises to the South Vietnamese government after our pullout in 1972. Despite repeated assurances of financial and military support, Congress refused to send help when the North started its final invasion. Not only did this mean the 50,000-plus American dead (and hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese) mean nothing, it led to the deaths and displacement of many thousands more in that country and its neighbors.

Iraq is not Viet Nam, but there are parallels. And I would rather "stay the course" and try to help the Iraqis (with no assurances of success, but a reasonable assumption of it) than pull out now, which would guarantee failure and a hostile nation in the future.