Good points. here is where we can part ways:

For those people who ACTUALLY go to Iraq and see the improvements for themselves be they writers or Democrats, Republicans and Independents they see a transformed country. It obviously isn't perfect but hell have you been to Detroit lately? There was a very liberal Congressman from Colorado and his name escapes me currently who wrote an article on the improvements made and was basically ostracized from the liberal elite because he dared report the progress he saw with his own eyes. Nancy Pelosi also begrudgingly gave some positive feedback on a trip recently taken to that region (not the Syria trip) and I had posted that article here but again in the elite media you won't hear about it because progress in Iraq does not get far-left Liberals elected and the media - for the most part - are far-left liberals.

Prior to 9/11 we were attacked in 1983 in which a suicide bomber killed dozens of American military men. We saw airlines get hi-jacked most notably the TWA flight of 184-85 and of course PanAm over Lockerbee, Scotland killing a bunch of college kids from Syracuse. We saw in 1992 the 1st bombing of the World Trade Center and several bombings of our interest overseas in places like Africa and Indonesia. In the late '90's the madness continued with the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. Now the thing to remember is that through all of this there was limited if any military response with the exception of Reagan going after Khadafy. Besides that however, Reagan, Bush Sr. & Clinton didn't do a hell of a lot about terrorism. After the Towers, the Pentagon and Flight #93 were attacked on 9/11 (I was 5-6 blocks away from the Towers that day) Bush basically said enough and put in place some policies that had to transform the CIA and other intelligence services from acting in a 'Cold War' mode to a Terrorism mode. Since 9/11 there have been no successful attacks on American soil and the argument can be made that the majority of the terrorists are over in Iraq and Afganistan where our heroic men and women are fighting. Do I think America is safer than before 9/11? Yes and no. Yes because that bubble of invincibility that we had been living in was shattered and we realized very quickly (& suddenly) that waters no longer separate madmen. Gov't agencies are working together with cause more efficently than before but there is such beuracracy that it'll probably never be perfect. In other ways I don't think we're safer because there are still far too many politicians on both sides of the aisle more interested than their own power and career than they are of protecting our borders because pandering equals votes form the Hispanic Community and also equals future voters. So, until the bullshit stops regarding the border, it will be very easy for terrorists and others to sneak in with impunity. You can't have border officers rotting in jail for doing their jobs which is happening. People I don't think realize the true threat that extremists truly are and seem more concerned about Gitmo and Abu-Garib and the rule rather than the exception which is an insult to all soldiers.

As far as the surge being "too little, too late" you are right and wrong. You are right in the sense that unfortunately, it took 4 years too long to find the right man for that particular job. Patreaus is the right man for the job despite what the piggish, racist,elitest far-left idealolgs will tell you. You never quit a ball game until the final out or until the clocks stops. It is a war and every war will have trials and errors (read something on WWII). There are some good things happening and I try to post them here. Stop listening to MSNBC and CNN. Read up. Ask and don't let anyone intimidate you.

yes, I'm concerned at the way this war has evolved and too many have died that didn't need too. However, there really is too much at stake to pull out because if you want to see some real chaos and massacres and more mass graves, then do as Obama wants to do and pull out.