"My guess is victory was never an option for the US in Iraq.

A strategy that could produce victory would require a level

of brutality that the US elites and populace could not stomach.

An occupation of Iraq that utlized the level of brutality needed

to rule in Iraq is just beyond the pale in the minds of people

who live in Western countries today." Thus spake ParaPundit,

who back in 1931, appeared as Bela Lugosi's fangs in Dracula.