Maybe you refuse to use the word, but sure as hell our enemies use it when we bail.

Al Qaeda was peeled out of Iraq by a combination of military force and, more importantly, by encouraging the growth of an Iraqi system that was hostile to it themselves. The essential key to all of these fights is to have a local government in place that is anti-terrorist, not pro-terrorist.

A major failure in the global anti-terror war is Pakistan's inability to control its western provinces. They seem to be stuck in a weird pattern of military actions and peace agreements that withdraw and allow the Taliban full rein.

There are many countries in the world where the outlying regions are almost independent entities, and have been for centuries. Pakistan and Afghanistan are like this. So was Iraq. Saddam paid little attention to the local Sunni sheiks in Anbar as long as they stayed out of his way.

As for Korea, I am continuously amazed by the number of people who paint that war and the followup as futile. North Korea is a starving prison camp. South Korea is a prosperous Western nation. If we had left it alone, Kim Jong Il, who has just anointed his youngest son as the next god-emperor, would simply be ruling a larger prison camp. Prison camps are often peaceful, but I have higher standards.