While no military operation can be flawless, there is no symmetry between the Administration's strategic failures that blanket the US's middle-east policy and the military's tactical problems in Iraq.

The incompetence of our politicians led to:

1)The failure to define a mission,

2) The failure to seek enduring public commitment for the war

3) The failure to seek adequate military resources

4) The failure to maintain diplomatic engagement with Iraq's neighbors (and other countries)

5) The failure to develop a viable plan for reconstruction

6) The failure to secure adquate resources for reconstruction

7) The failure to recognize the value of our national honor.. Leading to the torture of prisoners. A propaganda and recruiting victory for terrorists that has cost the lives of more Americans. Many more deaths than any information gained through torture could possibly have prevented.

The cowardly politicians have enjoyed strutting around as "pseudo-generals" over-ruling the warnings of professional soldiers, and micro-managing almost every aspect of this quagmire. Attempts to unload their failures onto the shoulders of our soldiers are disgusting.

It is important to distinguish between those responsible for operational SNAFUs and those responsible for major strategic blunders.

A soldier who panics and kills an innocent civilian must live with his personal guilt, and must answer for any failure to follow procedures. We must remember that this soldier has also put his body in harms way (in our name). Our incompetent "war President", comfortable and safe in Washington, bears the responsibility for thousands of unneccessary deaths.

And yet the average enlisted person VOTED for, REELECTED the very same failures of American leadership in 2004. You're right--it's the fault of the people who elected our failed leaders. And thus, in a round about way, it's still the troops' fault. They just get to share the guilt with 51% of the population.

Well said, both of you.

In a society like the US all citizens bear responsibility not just the ones who serve or voted for the majority. As for it always being the administrations fault the people of this country were for this war by an large majority: May 2003A Gallup poll made on behalf of CNN and the newspaper USA Today concluded that 79% of Americans thought the Iraq War was justified, with or without conclusive evidence of illegal weapons. 19% thought weapons were needed to justify the war. People should look in the mirror and realize we are all responsible for this war. We have a responsibility to the Iraqi people and to ourselves to insure that when we leave Iraq that the country is stabilized as much as possible to allow the country to develop on the grounds that they wish to proceed on. In a Democratic Republic all citizen bear the responsibility of it's governments actions, to claim that I'm not responsible because I didn't vote for the President is to abdicate your moral obligations as a citizen. If as you say you truly believed that this was an immoral war then were you not obligated to do everything in your power to stop it, not just post on a blog 5 years later bemoaning the war. Please don't tell me you marched in protest I can't think of a more worthless gesture.

Lvrplfc, what exactly is "within our power" to have stopped this war?

I remember arguing with all the morons who believed in the weapons of mass destruction batshit, I voted for Kerry (who knows if that would have even helped), I wrote to my Senator in Pennsylvania and received a canned two page response about Weapons of Mass Destruction! My letter explicitly stated that I did not believe there were any such weapons so they obviously didn't even read it!

Seriously, if voting for Kerry doesn't count and marching in a protest doesn't count either, what counts as good enough effort in your eyes? Stupid obedience, apparently.

Like I can magically make 79% of the population less stupid?
Finally, I made the ultimate change that was possible, given my limited capabilities: I moved to Canada, and I'm never coming back to live in the US again if I can help it.

And I really, really mean that.

There may have been nothing within your power to stop it but as with so many people I hear bemoaning the war they did very little to try. We went to war for revenge for 9-11 and nothing else. The poll shows people didn't care about WMDs but supported the invasion. It was about 30 years of rising gas prices, Islamic terrorism, being told over and over Saddam was protecting the people who attacked us and if we weren't careful not only would the terrorists attack again but with more powerful weapons. My point is that citizens bear the burden of living with their government and it's choices. Citizens who disagree with the government have the responsibility to change that government. Voting for the candidate of your choice is only the start, if every committed person tried changing one person’s mind in the last two election cycles it would not have taken much of a swing to change the coarse of events. You also assume that 79% of the people who were polled were stupid, that's a pretty arrogant assumption, maybe that did not have the time to be well informed, maybe they never had someone question their assumptions or maybe they were stupid but how would you know? Then in the end you surrendered, you moved to Canada, how very brave of you, can I ask as someone who would like to see my country once again honor the Geneva Convention, have a civil discourse about our political differences, trust it’s citizens not spy on them and again be a beacon of hope and freedom to oppressed people not their oppressor, come home and make a difference in any way you can. It is the citizen of a country not the government that must live with bad decisions their government makes and it is their responsibility to insure they are not made again that is what you should be doing not running away.