Mark,

I predicted this would happen well before the war began. This was why I opposed going to war on the basis of a failed intelligence and inadequate international support. One doesn't go to war without having good, well-documented reasons and knowing full well what one is getting into.

I had noted that the conduct of the war would leave thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens dead. That has happened. I also noted that we could expect hundreds of American lives to be lost. That, too, has happened. I suggested that the war and reconstruction would cost American citizens billions of dollars. Indeed it has. And, I noted that Iraq is a country of over 22 million people and that all it would take would be a small percentage of these to take and convert an expeditious and efficient little war into a prolonged quagmire. This, too, is exactly what is happening.

Now that we're there, we're stuck. I only hope that the American people hold Mr. Bush responsibile for his reckless little war. In the meantime, we need a new administration in Washington that has a clue as to how to turn a muddled mess into a successful peace. Idealogues like Mr. Bush have no idea how to do this.

Regards,
Donald