And, alienated much of the world, whose help we need if terrorism is to be controlled. A destabilized Iraq is not the best for the US.

And, as the man says, at this moment we have lost the war.

"The bottom line is, at this moment we are losing the war," says Andrew Bacevich, a former Army colonel who teaches international relations at Boston University. "That doesn't mean it is lost, but we are losing, and as an observer it is difficult for me to see that either the civilian leadership or the military leadership has any plausible idea on how to turn this around."

While "it is certainly a good thing that Saddam Hussein is gone," it is difficult to say that Iraq is in better shape, Bacevich says. "Iraq was a lousy place to live when Saddam was in power, and Iraq is a lousy place to live with Saddam Hussein gone and this growing insurgency" in his place, he says.