The Power of a Preposition
It occurred to me that we keep talking about the War In Iraq, as opposed to the War With Iraq. We didn't go to war "in Germany" or "in Japan". We went to war with them or against them. We knew who we were fighting, and when it would be done. We would be done when Germany and Japan gave up. And they did. And the war was over.
The problem with this war is there are no defined goals. Even if you allow Bush's argument against a timetable, there still must be definable goals. What are we trying to do, and how will we know when we're done?
Because otherwise, you've got two big problems. First, you're thrashing because you don't know what you're trying to accomplish in the first place. So you try random stuff and hope that it works (except you can't tell if it works or not, because you're not sure what you're trying to do). Second, your thrashing is endless because you have no idea when to stop.
The powers that be don't seem to know. In fact, they don't seem to know that they should know. (Yes, he can't set goals or direction and he can't motivate. He's a bad leader by any reasonable person's definition.) Of course, the money men like it that way, because they keep making delicious profit off of endless war. It's good for business.
Anyway. "In" versus "With". A small, but important detail.
