You have asked a very important question. You say, "....the war may well have been ill-considered, but without the luxury of a time-machine, what do we do?"

In other words the die has been cast. You ask should we "Stay the course and bear the pain, hoping to rehabilitate Iraqi society, or simply jump ship and leave them to their own devices?"

Well, having cast the dice, all we have left to do is to read them, and possibly weep. Choices have been taken away from us by an overly agressive, well intentioned but ill considered invasion by an inept administration.

You ask, should we "Cut our losses and run? Leave Iraq to the insurgents?"

The US has authored change in Iraq. This administration has installed a pro-forma government for Iraq and made the committment to aid that government. If that government cannot stand up to the insurgents, then it lacks both the support of the Iraqi people and Allah and will fall.

The Iraqi people have the right to their own self determination. They alone have the right to decide what form of government they want and they should pursue it.

The US, rightly or wrongly, has made a committment in arms, blood, and money to try to make this a reality. We cannot run, but neither can we dictate what sort of government structure and form Iraq will develop into. Iraq may well cease to be, become three or more independent countries and all we should be doing is trying to establish peaceful relations with them as they develop.

Your post make the relevant point that we are no longer fighting "terrorist" we are fighting insurgents. Insurgents always have a considerable measure of popular support.

Publius