So that's a start

So far President Obama has shown himself to be a warmonger, greatly expanding in Afghanistan,enthusiastically using killer drones in Pakistan, and sending special ops into Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.

It remains to be seen what kind of reduction this actually is in Iraq. What about levels of contractors, will they surge? What about special ops assassination and torture squads, are they considered combat troops?

I could not agree more with opinion voiced by Cassandraaa, no matter how eloquent Obama`s rhetoric may be, actions do speak louder than words. I bet money on the unfortunate fact that the next President of America, in this case Mr Obama, will carry on with and escalate the disastrous policies of his predecessor.

I watched on in great dismay, at the millions of Americans that were so desperate for a change, that they chose passion and emotion as a viable substitute for reason and sense. In this trance like state they were willing and prepared to believe anyone that was not Bush and co. People who take an active interest in American politics and possess only a moderate level of intelligence, understand there is truly little difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Two sides of the same coin, one less insane but insane none the less.

What worries one for the future is the insatiable drive for targeted assassinations by unmanned drones. CIA director Leon Panetta called it ' the only game in town' and Obama has ordered more in his short term in office than George Bush ordered in eight years. One wonders how long will it be until Russia, China, India and many more have similar programs and doctrines, following the American example. Maybe one day you or your family could just be collateral damage in a targeted assassination by a foreign power, hunting for their 'terrorists'.

A Pictured Era of War--that its Full Ferocity never return.

And its Story, stories with the Story, however Imagined (fictive, non-fictive) however long, another Era.

Iraq's Lost Generations--Adult & Child: 100.000 killed; 500,000 wounded--many seriously; one million refugees; two million displaced within Iraq; millions with psychological scarring; professional classes gutted.

Its a horrific situation and I'm certain Obama would like to take every last troop out of there. This would be fantastic economically and I'm sure it would rest easier on his soul. However it's just not that simple. What would happen if there was a sudden reduction in troops Absolute chaos. We should never have been there in the first place but now that we are we have a responsability to the people there. My piano tutorial teacher is from Iraq and he is very clear that we cannot just cut loose and run. Having said that I would like to see a planned reduction of troops publicised and soon.

In this trance like state they were willing and prepared to believe anyone that was not Bush and co. People who take an active interest in American politics and possess seslichat only a moderate level of intelligence, understand there is truly little difference between the Republicans and Democrats. Two sides of the same coin, one less insane but insane none the less.

Snatching Defeat from the jaws of Victory?
I don't want to sing the praises of current US Military strategy too much as I believe it's much to early to know if the relative peace will bring something more with it. However this piece seems to doom laden good news. Anything successful happening isn't good enough and all the bad things are ten times worse than when they co-existed with much higher levels of violence.
Instead of doom-mongering perhaps we could see this as a starting point. I doubt the next five years or more that Iraq requires will be easy but I do believe it is the morally courageous route to pursue after the botching of the whole dolce sport online thing post-invasion.