Iraq Failure Group Report

I'm in between an all-day training session and an evening jazz concert, so I haven't had any significant time to study the report from Jim Baker's Iraq Failure Group. From what I've heard and seen, it appears the report boils down to this:

1. There's no hope for a military victory, and even if there is, we shouldn't do it.
2. We need to cozy up to our enemies (Syria and Iran) and abandon our friends (Israel).
3. If we play nice with our enemies, we can leave in a year or so (if they promise to leave us alone until we get out).

I'm sure there's more, but I think that pretty well sums it up. I heard Victor Davis Hanson on Hugh's show on my way home and he brought up an interesting statistic. We lost an average of 8,000 Americans per month during WWII and never blinked an eye. Our resolve was just as firm at the end as it had been after Pearl Harbor.

To date in the war on terror, we've lost an average of 50 Americans a month (including the 9/11 victims) and we're panicking. As Hanson said, it's a good thing there wasn't a Baker Commission to advise Abraham Lincoln after Cold Harbor, Harry Truman after the Yalu River, or FDR after the Battle of the Bulge.

We started out with all the resolve and unity in the world after 9/11, and now can't muster enough backbone to finish the job. It's a real shame, and if we pull out of Iraq Vietnam-style, it will affect the reputation of our military for 25 years. Future generations of Americans will pay the price.