Going to war was an exceptionally bad decision. Inexcusable. Unfortunately, now that we're there, we are stuck. Our only choice is to stick it out to the bitter end to ensure a successful outcome.

And its unfortunate that our allies are abandoning us. Its very bad judgement on their part. But each of these "coalition" nations has its own populace it is accountible to. And these people are not happy that their leaders followed George Bush blindly into war on the basis of extremely bad intelligence. Their decisions to quit are entirely consistent with the political will of their own people.

And, yes, Australia is on the bubble. I suspect that Latham will win and Australia will join the nations quiting Iraq.

The problem is both complex and intractable...something the neocons are unable to comprehend. Their simple-minded purist perspectives fail to appreciate just how daunting "regime change" in a nation of 22 million people truly is.

This is why we must dump Bush. His appallingly bad judgement has put us here. And his incompetence puts our soldiers at risk every day. On the foreign policy front he has squandered every last dime of credibility this nation ever owned. It is only by replacing him will we succeed in Iraq and elsewhere in the world.