Monday, Dec. 4, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.
Can a U.S. president declare a war that would be acceptable to the American civilian population, even a defensive war? I doubt it. The U.S. public saturated with the bad news from the Iraq war has lost its will to fight any kind of war. It's the inability of Americans to accept prolonged combat that makes me think we should go into world isolation to prevent future U.S. service personnel fatalities in foreign lands.
Maybe history will cast an approving judgment on the Iraq war, but centuries of hatred between the Shiite and Sunni sects may not be settled until the last Sunni or Shiite survives the bloodletting. It was that sectarian hostility that President Bush ignored, turning a military victory into a guerrilla war, which Vietnam showed cannot be won by an American military force lacking support from the American public.
Beginning with Korea (my war), the U.S. has not had a clear victory. The "Greatest Generation" has sired generations of wimps who are more interested in privacy and sensitivity than freedom and security.
So, to prevent the loss of American lives on foreign soils, we should bring our foreign-based service personnel home from wherever they are. They will be stationed within our borders, dedicated solely to the defense of the U.S. No more will we antagonize the Arabs or inhabitants of lands in which we have built bases for our and their security. The Muslims will cheer our defeat while Syria and Iran pick up the pieces of Iraq that remain.
But no American lives will be lost and the U.S. will be at peace. I just wonder for how long.
Pete Karnoski, Las Vegas
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