There has been a major push by both Democrats and Republicans recently to pressure President George W. Bush into setting a firm timetable for the removal of troops from Iraq - either entirely or at least in their combat positions. This trend has been particularly fascinating to me. I must say, when the war first began I supported it. They had nuclear bombs, were associated with terrorists, etc. etc. Then that all turned out to be a load of pooh (and no, I don't mean the cartoon one). I was upset, betrayed. I am still angry that this happened and ask, "How is this possible?" But, we unseated a country and we could not simply leave without helping them rebuild. So, that is what we have been doing. Do I still support the war? I do. Why do I support the war? Because of the brave Iraqi men and women who every day risk their lives to establish their country. While I hear nothing but complaints from everyone about the Iraqi government and military, I (perhaps out of naivety) see them as heros - daily endangering their own and their families lives for a cause they believe in - a stable Iraq.

     Do I agree with the President's strategies for winning the war? I am not in a position to analyze. I do not have the time or access to understand what is occurring on the ground over there, what secret knowledge resides inside of the CIA, or to discuss with residents of the country as well as our soldiers what is occurring there. What I do know is that history teaches me to be highly skeptical of Congressional calls for withdrawal.

    I'm not a humongous Civil War buff like I used to be, but that knowledge still rolls around in my brain and I can't help but think of the American Civil War. A war that was to end in weeks or months, but instead drolled on for years. Abraham Lincoln, the President, was harshly criticized for his leadership throughout many parts of the war as his generals repeatedly lost battles to Robert E. Lee's forces (amongst others). The death toll was in the hundreds of thousands, and who knows how many wounded. In fact, it was becoming extremely likely that a peace party would be elected and settle with the Confederacy. George B. McClellan, one of Lincoln's better Generals was the Presidential candidate for this party. Let's not to forget to throw in there Lincoln's oppression of civil liberties - suspending habeus corpus and proactively arresting numerous politicians and others in border states whom he believed might oppose his cause and lead a state to secession.

   Then it all changed. At Gettysburg, in 1863. A turning point in the war.

   I don't want to get into arguments about the Civil War - who was right or wrong. But simply to note that Lincoln did what it took to win the war in spite of ferocious opposition and incompetence amongst his military commanders. He faced many of the same sorts of challenges President Bush faces in this war - and yet, in the end, no one looks back with a critical eye on Abraham Lincoln (hyperbole). Will Bush's legacy be the same? Only time can bear out, and I do not know that Bush knows any better whether it will be so than Lincoln did, nor can one know. War can be won and lost on the turn of a dime.