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This thread is a symptom of, and a prime example of the psychological disorder that has overtaken America. I am fascinated by the inability of contributors to this forum to persuade "the other side" of anything that would signifigantly lessen the distance between our points of view. This isn't new. The thing that is newer, is using the internet to discuss issues and opinions. We now have a luxury of offering links to sources of information on other websites that did not exist during other major national periods of division that I have experienced in my adult lifetime. Two major divides that I recall are the Vietnam war and the Carter "malaise".
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Well, I would hope that people who get sucked into this forum game are aware ahead of time that the belief and value systems of others are usually NOT going to be changed, whether the person supplying the argument is friendly, attacking, or condescending. The best a poster should hope for is presenting his or her view, backing it up with "facts" linked to web resources, and then hope that - by exploring the links - readers can gain a wide enough source of information from differing viewpoints to develop a new position.
Or it might solidy their current position. Who knows?
I support us being in Iraq, but not for the publicly stated WMD crap. Nossir - I've been a stout proponent of regime change since the early Clinton years. I will call this operation a success - in my eyes only - if the Iraqi people have a democratically-elected government representative of their values and beliefs, that does not mistreat vast ethnic or political subsets within its borders. Do I get thrilled about a the Shi'ite ticket that seems to be leading - no. But if that is what the people elect, and they can partner with the Kurds and Sunnis to draft a constitution that the entire country can live with and go through several peaceful exchanges of power, then it will be a success, and hopefully an example for other Middle Eastern countries to move towards in their own fashions.