@Mystik,

Actually, I wasn’t talking about the technicality of whether an actual war was declared. I’m talking about the mission.

The “war” was to overthrow the government of Iraq, which was accomplished. America seized the country. At that point, it became an occupation: the installation of a temporary government and the pacification of the people.

I agree – from the viewpoint of a soldier whose buddy just got crippled by an explosion, it seems like a war. However, we are an occupying force, not actually fighting the current government of Iraq. We’re policing the citizenry and apparently defending against outside aggressors.

My problem is, I don’t know what winning means in an occupation. McCain mentioned staying for a hundred years, but then he comparied that to our current forces in Germany, which aren’t being shot at. Mostly embassy guards and training and staging groups in Germany apparently. So how do we “win the war” and “not wave the white flag of surrender”?

(Of course, if someone would post a photo of a lovely girl not wearing a shirt, I’d get distracted and never find my way back to this thread…)