Polls..Have you ever seen one? I don't mean the results, I mean the poll itself? I have. They go something like this..

Do you approve of the war in Iraq? Y or N

Do you approve of the way the president is handling the war in Iraq? Y or N

Do you think we should committ more troops to the war in Iraq? Y or N

End of poll.

HEY! Wait a minute! Where is the part that asks our opinion about the alternative? Where is the part that asks if we approve of the plans the other side has? The questions aren't there and here is why. The alternative is diplomacy and the radical insurgency are not interested in diplomacy and they have proven it hundreds of times since 1979, so there is no real alternative and every rational, non-Muslim in the world seems to understand this and I just don't understand why so many others DON'T get it.

So, if diplomacy, which has failed in Iran and Iraq for the last 25 years, isn't going to work, what is? What is the new plan? I would be very interested in hearing it. Hell, I amy even agree with it, but it has to exist for me to know! Like Dubya said in his debate with Kerry in 2004, "A litany of complaints is not a plan". I'll admit that the president isn't the orater Reagan was, but that was pretty astute observation. Dubya's numbers may be way low, but the actual numbers on the war are still about 50-50 when you look at all sides and not just the side the media want's you to see. I agree that things suck over there and the president has done a poor job of prosecuting this war, but the public has to share the blame for that. America has lost it's stomach for war. We(not me) are simply unwilling to do what it takes to defeat an enemy. If the public had been consulted and listened to like they are today on the things we do to win(interrogation techniques, mass bombing)we would all be spaeking German and goosestepping to publiuc rally's.

In the war on terror thousands of lives have been lost and thousands more will be lost, but we didn't start this crap. We didn't bomb the Khobar towers, the Marine Barracks, the Cole or take down the WTC(although the conspiracy theorists would have you belive we did), but at least Dubya tried to do something about it. You can't blame him for everything when you hogtie him and the military because you are squeamish about the realities of war. A war WE din't start. Even if we had never gone into Iraq, thousands of innocents and military would still be dead either at the hands of Saddam himself in Iraq and in Afghanistan and elswhere because the insurgents would have eventually came to where were fighting the radicals. They want to kill us wherever we are and that is not going to stop with diplomacy and UN sanctions. It's not about borders to them. It's about their hatred for us no matter where we are or what we are doing and the WTC proved that.

I sometimes think the president should just throw up his hands and let the chips fall where they may. Then everyone would see just how unprepared his detractors are to keep terrorism and despots at bay. Strongly worded diplomatic letters just aren't going to cut it with these madmen. It's one one thing to piss and moan about change, but it is another thing entirely to affect it. I am saddened and sorry to say that it will, most likely, take another attack by the REAL bad guys to wake the other half up...AGAIN!