$98 per barrel oil

They are facing a nuclear-armed USA (and other countries), run by some
idiots that hold "hostile combatants" without trial etc. for undefined
time in concentration camps (Gitmo).

The issue of enemy combatants is a complicated one when the enemy
fights an international, religiously-driven war. The rules of war, so
cut and dried when everyone agrees to wear different-colored uniforms,
behind a flag, get pretty fuzzy when one side hides behind women and
children, and doesn't identify themselves until they pop up holding an
RPG.

This war is quite different from past wars. Thanks to instant
worldwide communication national boundaries mean little. Radical
Islamicists span the globe, and carry on the fight without regard to
nationality. For the first time in history, an enemy is capable
(thanks to this wonderful internet) of carrying on a global war
without any kind of traditional force structure. This means that the
enemy can be literally *anywhere* -- truly a chilling thought.

Gitmo is a POW camp, and POWs are released when the war ends. With
one side so diffuse, and no one empowered to sign surrender papers,
how do you tell when the war is "over"? Your guess is as good as
mine.

How can we address the diffuse nature of the enemy? Aside from the
removal of Saddam, one of the main purposes of the invasion of Iraq
was to concentrate the opposition in one place, under the "flag" of
Jihad. While the Left has labeled Iraq a failure for becoming a
"spawning ground for terrorists", I believe that this was a deliberate
(and quite successful) strategy from the start. Like flies to ****,
the terrorists squandered their one true advantage by geographically
concentrating themselves so that a traditional military could defeat
them.

Of course, there are signs that they are starting to realize their
mistake. The current dramatic drop in violence in Iraq illustrates
that the enemy is no longer willing to confront the military head-to-
head, and may simply be melting back into the landscape.

It also may illustrate that the enemy has finally realized that all
they really have to do is wait till November 2008, and they will be
able to march into the Green Zone unopposed. Much like the Viet Cong
in 1974, all they have to do is wait for the US to retreat. (In case
you don't know, by 1975 the Viet Cong had renamed Saigon -- the former
capital of South Vietnam, "Ho Chi Minh City".)

Not that I would expect you to appreciate or understand the often
subtle nature of this worldwide conflict, but you really need to think
a LITTLE before you post. The issues are never as cut and dried as
you apparently believe.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"