"Note to Don - Uh....maybe next time"
Yeah, well hope springs eternal.
Our problem doesn't seem to be going in and getting the bad guys.
We seem to be pretty good at that.
The problem is that we hang on too long, without handing the keys to the locals and saying "OK we cleaned your house out, now it's up to you!"
(reminds me of the lady that asked Ben Franklin what kind of government the men in Independence Hall had come up with. "A republic madam, if you can keep it!")
We are never going to fully win the hearts and minds of peoples and cultures that are so different from us in so many ways. Not everyone is ready for our kind of democracy.
Of course an outsider watching the recent goings-on in Washington may say "Thanks, but no thanks!"
Don