Headline in 4 years: Jon Stewart becomes anchorman for network news show, tells it how it is.

High hopes to have a broadcast journalist sacrifice ratings for relevant truth?

Calligraph:

I'm fairly certain that the entire "misled us into war" meme has run its course from rumor to opinion to undisputed fact.

I'm also fairly certain Saddam Hussein is dead, the Al Queda has been removed (after migrating to) Iraq, and that the majority of the sovereign citizens of Iraq think its time we head home.

Assuming that Iran is a serious threat, and that China and Russia are ready for World War III, don't you suppose it is time we allow our troops to head home and recover? I mean, if we are heading into a full blown war with Iran, shouldn't we at least allow our troops a little R&R first?

Furthermore, assuming Iran exploits our redeployment, and engages in a full-scale invasion of Iraq, wouldn't we focus on air & sea superiority at first? i.e. launch from the carriers already within striking distance?

Except as fodder for UIDs, and an inevitable Iranian invasion, why do we want troops occupying central Iraq? How does this make any sense, in terms of military strategy?

I am assuming you are totally correct, and that after the U.S. leaves, Iraq collapses to an Iranian invasion (either directly or via proxy to some terrorist/insurgent group). In this event, I would expect the Air Force to obliterate the invading Iranian forces, rather than attempting some old-fashioned tench warfare/ground invasion. In other words, I would expect this to go down like Gulf War I, rather than WWI.

Of course, the present strategy makes perfect sense if the goal in regards to Iran is offensive, rather than defensive. In other words, we are in place to execute the classic "pincher" attack from both East and West, with heavy air and sea support in the gulf. We could no doubt obliterate Iran's military within a few months, unless of course Russia and/or China commit a la the Korean/Vietnam conflicts.

That said, what is the end game to your geopolitical strategy? Obviously no one wants nuclear war, and obviously China and Russia will not allow one of their major oil suppliers to be destroyed. Furthermore, oil is already at $131 / barrel USD. What would an invasion of Iran to do that price? How would our fragile, oil-based economy survive that, while still recovering from the worst recession since 91?

Forget the hippy-dippy, "give peace a chance" view of things. I'm talking to you as a pure economical Machiavellian. How does any of this make sense? And- now that McCain has agreed that the occupation of Iraq must end sooner or later, how is his position fundamentally different from that of Obama?