>John,
>
>Well, I stepped in it there, didn't I? <s> That is a really admirable military career. On November 11, the only appropriate words are "Thank you." That's sincere, however far apart our political views are.
>

Thank you very much. I appreciate the sentiment and I never let politics stand in the way of friendship. I may seem like a curmudgeon at times, but I can separate the two.


>In that spirit, and in the ongoing belief that reasonable people can discuss things even if they don't necessarily agree, let me toss a few things out there.
>
>You explicitly linked the invasion of Iraq to the fight against terrorism. Is that really your belief? FWIW, personally I think our little adventure in Iraq, which has turned into our long adventure, has increased the terrorist threat against us, not reduced it.
>

I think that something needed to be done and I'm glad that Bush had the cojones to do it. Clinton surely didnt althought the precursors to 911 existed during his tenure.


>Question 2: as always, a disproportionate number of the casualties in Iraq have been Marines. They get the toughest missions so it's no criticism of them. How do you feel about all those Marines coming home in caskets? I am thinking specifically of a feature article in Newsweek last week about a Marine who was killed in Iraq. It quoted many of his emails home. His mission was to train Iraqi soldiers. He was semper fi to the max, hard core, questioning only the ability of the Iraqi army and police force to take up the slack if we leave. His disrespect for their ability to do so was palpable. Just in the space of 3 pages I liked and respected that guy.

Marines are prepared for that sacrifice. My heart winces everytime I read about another death, but those Marines know why they are there and what they are doing. I believe its time to turn over Iraq to the Iraq's and let what come, come.



>A valiant death in a good cause or a good life wasted?

Both.



>
>What should our exit strategy from Iraq be? No one seems to have the answer to that one, neither the administration nor its assailers. I don't claim to, either. The one thing I have read that makes some sense is that at this point we should follow the Korea exit model. We are not going to "win"; there is no possibility of that. We are not fighting any defined enemy and there is no one to surrender to us. But we can't just bail out, either. All that would do is insure the extermination or evacuation of the remaining Sunnis. So what do we do? In Korea we left without either winning or losing, but we left in a way that all sides could feel they were better off, and with uncatastrophic consequences.


If I were King of America, I would send a letter to the Iraq's and publish it all over the country.
"If one more American is killed in an ambush, car bomb, or pure fate, you have 10 days to vacate your country, homes and lives, because the b-52 will flatten Iraq and turn it into a parking lot and staging lot for our aircraft.

Do that once in Iraq and then again in any other country where terrorists kill Americans and I guarantee you the violence against our troops would cease. The Israelis have a good idea, but haven't taken it far enough.



>Just questions. Answer or not, it's up to you. And happy Veteran's Day.
>
Again thanks. I work with a number of ultra-liberals and we are good friends. They had a field day with me post November 7th. I had to take this time, next time maybe I can dish it out.