Actually I have a pretty good history on it. Considering the Elite Republican Guard were defeated within days of the initial conflict and Saddam's government collapsed around the same time - the war was won in a time period I predicted.

Peacekeeping, policing neighborhoods and keeping soldiers around is not the same war. Depending on the level of the region you conquer, holding it is difficult. We never planned to hold it. In retrospect that was a mistake. We could have pulled out quicker and let the Shiites devour the Sunnis in a civil war. We could have retreated to the north and stayed with the more civilized Kurds while the South spilled their own blood.

Even now, after years of policing, we still have "only" 1600 military casualties. That's tragic, but considering the expected casualty count to bring down Saddam's government, it's a military world record low body count for such a country to change governments.

You may have noticed that the attacks pick up before elections? First Bush's now Blairs. Wonder why?

While you're busy traveling down HZ memory lane--you may also want to review yours and your own brother's posts about the poosibility that insurgents were freedom fighters standing up for Iraqis and against foreign invaders. It's now patently obvious the true, peaceful Iraqis DO like Americans and the freedom American liberation has brought to millions of Iraqis and only Al Qaeda and the Al Zawahris of the world who use America as justification for their own tyrannical power grabs truly detest the American military presence and the average Iraqis they murder alongside the US G.I.