"Analyze the current situation if Bush had never gone into Iraq, but our troops were tied up only in Afghanistan."

Counterfactual universes are pointless, because ultimately you end up arguing over imagined states of the universe. Its basically drawing a blank canvass for ideology.

I make no assumptions that everything would be 'just ducky' if we had not gone to war in Iraq. How things 'would' be would be completely related to what we would have done differently, and how well we did it.

However, back here in the real world, the one we actually are contending with, its really absurd to say that the war in Iraq has had any positive outcome, because, again in the real world it has not had any.

You can play with fantasies all you want. But it seems clear that Iraq has been a massive mis-adventure with little or no reasonably forseeable positive outcomes.

"Rough translation: "Our difficult and bloody ground war in Iraq is keeping us from pouring hundreds of thousands of troops into Iran and North Korea, which no doubt would be a cakewalk when compared to the ghastly toll of two military deaths a day in Iraq.""

No, thats not what I said, not even close. What we can't do, and everybody knows it, is bring any credible threat of military power to the negotiating table with Iran or N. Korea. Without a stick, and with carrots either being anthema to the Bush admin (WRT Iran) and pointless with N. Korea, we're just essentially reduced to asking China and Russia to help out, oh please, even though we have stuck them in the eye continuously over the last 6 years.

Its perfectly reasonable to believe we could have an effective (versus the current ineffective) force level in Afghanistan while still hold a reasonable stick if we had not gone ito Iraq- that much counterfactual at least is not too fantastical to suggest.

"Name ANY of those other battlefields that would NOT "exhaust the will of the American people for prolonged military conflict." "

Sure. Afghanistan. The home of the Taliban and playground of Al-qaeda.

"Particularly when a large segment of its own population has dedicated itself to destroying any such will that might still exist."

Thats about all you have left to bring to the table. You have been wrong on every count WRT the war in Iraq- why should I listen to this attempt at partisan blame shifting?

"And it's not as if a lot of anti-Iraq-war liberals posting here would have the slightest support for any such major military actions in other nations. Pretending otherwise is dishonest."

Oh really? Exactly how many are completely against Afghanistan or were from the start? Not me. Not, I suspect, most liberals.

DL