The war in Iraq I want to end is the one we're fighting. How many times has the mission changed? Four? Six? Who keeps count anymore? Every time our troops accomplish the mission we give them, Bush/Cheney say, "No. Now you have to do this." I have met quite a few of the people currently serving our country. I have always been struck by their dignity, something that almost seems noble, as if they would be at home at Arthur's round table. I can not imagine the frustration they must feel as the second, third, fourth, fifth tours of duty come around. But I know they will do what they are asked to do for as long as we ask it. Hitchens says there are 3 wars going on in Iraq. There is just one war in Iraq, the one we started "preemptively." Different factions are fighting, yes, but they all have a single goal, they want to have things their way. Including us. The decision to go to war and to stay at war was made by politicians in Washington. The problem for us is that they can't decide what they want. To win? We win every time we fight. We could "win" our way across the continent until we ran into the Chinese and it still wouldn't put Iraq back together. No matter how things turn out, I doubt that Christopher Hitchens will ever be happy with the result. It's the war that matters to people like him, not the peace. As Bush pointed out with his references to the end of the Vietnam War, there are some who's thirst for destruction can never be satisfied. They are seldom the ones who go and fight in the wars they cheer on.