A much simpler answer might be that there are factions in American politics that have a lot more to gain from defeat in Iraq than victory, and behave accordingly.

Look at how they act when bad news comes out of the war. Look at how they respond when good news is heard. Use your common sense, and your knowledge of human nature. Imagine yourself at a football game, the score close, watching who cheers as a team moves down the field, and who declares that the movement isn't important, and the other team can come back. You know in fifteen minutes which fan is backing which team.

Now, ask yourself, do these anti-war people sound like they WANT us to win?

Sometimes the answers are simple ones.

Again, I urge you to spend some time where those over there fighting, or in country, give their opinions.

For the record, violence is going to pick up when the Iraqis start taking out the militias, including full-blown battles. This is something that should have been cleaned out after Sadr's first uprisings, and it wasn't.

This will be seen by dim minds in this country as a disaster, with cries of "civil war."