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Entry: Intelligence Failure--Why America Can't Think Its Way Out of Iraq Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/intelligence_failure_why_america_cant_think_its_way_out_of_iraq#22575 Post contents: Let's be clear: there are only two meaningful positions on Iraq -- leave immediately or stay in Iraq indefinitely. The position that we should continue to stay in Iraq until we achieve victory, and then withdraw, is not a legitimate. How is victory to be defined, or how will we know it when we see it? If violence falls by another 50% and stays that way for a year can we leave? A few may say yes, but most no. You could ask twenty different people to define victory in terms of actual objective data -- rate of violence, political participation, economic growth -- and you would get twenty different answers. "Victory in Iraq" is a meaningless term because there's nothing specific about it. It's just a slogan that war supporters use to avoid losing face. Instead of waiting for this elusive victory to appear out of nowhere, we should look how to exit Iraq as quickly as possible. On the political front it's important to make sure that our departure is not seen as a "defeat" for America, but rather a return to normalcy, and a loss for the Neocons. Sent at: 2008 05 16