Recently, I watched a documentary on the last day of World War I. It occurred to me that one of the hugely significant differences between the two world wars and the Iraq war is that those wars had defined moments when they were over.
The Germans, the Japanese surrendered and agreed that hostilities would end, there would be no more fighting. How can that happen in Iraq? Who among our opponents has the authority or the power to step up and say, "Enough. It's over."
We are not fighting a traditionally organized, centrally commanded military force that can be defeated, that can be forced to lay down their weapons.
If the end of the war cannot be determined by the capitulation of an enemy force, then how is The End of the War to be defined? What are the criteria for determining a successful (or failed) prosecution of the war? What standard are we trying to meet in the Iraq war that will mean we have accomplished our task?
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