I definitely agree.

Yup!

The real world is bit more scary than fantasy will allow.

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Freedom is important. Females make up around half of the population of humans. My thinking is that the those who treat females as chattel, aren't actually civilized at all.

Women are, at least half of, what civilization is.

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Are we, as a nation, really going to bow-out in the face of radical Islam.

What scares me, is the knowledge that there are STILL people, after all these years, who think that we are making any progress in this war on terrorism.

We've all but been kicked out of Iraq by their leadership and the predictions made five years ago are coming to fruition. The minute we left the cities, the escalations in terrorizing Iraqis have resumed.

It's time to retreat, plain and simple and let the chips fall where they may. All we have accomplished is to create more enemies of the United States and to have torn up the infrastructure of two countries.

Bowing out is the only respectable thing we can do at this point. Why? Because we already know we are fighting an invisible enemy. They are aggressive, but they hide among the innocent, who have been killed in multitudes as human shields.

They do however, stand out in a crowd on our soil, so our concentrated efforts should be focused on keeping them out of our country so that no one here is terrorized.

That is an achievable goal, and a far more worthwhile one as well.

War is terrorism. Can't imagine anything Hollywood would make, could come anywhere near the fright level than that of a drone passing by one's home.

Saddam was no doubt a tyrant but he also was the single most source of stability in the region. The first Bush was correct in not pursuing him into Baghdad. All we needed to do was keep a lid on him and spend our resources in Afghanistan after the real terrorists. Now both of these countries are unstable with Iran added to the list, and Pakistan is also threatening.

First, it was, "...art imitating life...."
Now, it is, "...life imitating art...."

Of course, in the movies, the first to die are those who do not believe there is a 'monster' on the way.
The next to go are those who usually are stampeded to death when it finally dawns on them 'something is amiss'.
However, as in all typical 'monster' movies, the good and righteous types end up driving the menace back into the "boggy swamp", "dormant volcano", "flying saucer" or wherever else it appeared from before the final credits roll.

So, let's say 2001 was the beginning of the 'first reel'.
Where are we now?? What is our next move??

Hey, I'm all for bringing our young people back home, and as quickly as possible. But I can't remember any upstanding 'horror flick' ever ending with, "...last one out, turn out the lights...."

Maybe we had better leave the movie making and 'happy endings' to those who know how to do it.

Thank you for your time and attention,
Woody

Great cartoon, Clay.

It appears we all pretty much agree with your intent. The consensus here seems to be it is indeed time we got out -- while we still have the remnants of some kind of an Army.

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But the devil is in the details. Retreats are neither pretty nor safe for the retreat-ees. I give you Dunkirk, Korea, and that great example of a Congress-led war...Vietnam.

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So once again we abandon our resolve, our willingness to fight for the right, and throw any allies we have left under the bus. So be it. [We are even losing England...Canada we never had, of course.]

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Oh yeah. It is all Dubya's fault, EaTn. He is the reason the support of our troops in Afghanistan is dying along with them.

Back to Wall-less Fortress America and the Chinese-owned dollar.

We have been steadily bowing-out to radical islam for some years now, SCOTTYM. Our Dear Leader even bows to foreign islamic kings. I am surprised he didn't kiss his ring.

It appears we will have pockets of Sharia law here and there, soon if not already. We already pretty much shrug off so-called "honor" killings and other [dishonorable] abuse of females...right here in the good ole USofA. Whoda thunk??

And pretty much no one even cares.

Hussein, a source of stability? With the rape and torture chambers his sons ran, the jailing of innocent Iraqis for any imaginable action, like speaking out against their Dear Leader, Saddam. I guess the 300,000 northern Iraqis (Kurds) also felt stable, warm and fuzzy when Husseins 'terrorists' buried them in mass graves. Or those who fled here to America?

The truth is that Islamic terrorists have been around the Middle East for a very long time. Documented evidence shows Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudia Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza, Israel (have I left any out?) have been dealing with them and/or harboring them long before the Bushes came on the scene. And then, they visited us here in America and liked us so much, some stayed. Oh, but those in a Bubble don't remember the facts, it's too inconvenient.

Gens. Petraeus and McChrystal should be commended for making do with so little support under this administration. I don't hear anyone saying we are making progress in Afghanistan. Instead I read and see videos of the soldiers and Generals, etc. talking about the difficulties fighting there and how our President needs to make a decision yesterday about providng more troops or pulling out.

We can never just "put a lid" on a murderous dictator or on a single terrorist. That answer is the uncompassionate way to say 'Just leave those folks to deal with it, who cares if they're raped/tortured/killed? As long as I am okay'.

Others say, 'How long do you all in America think you will stay okay'?

Oh, come on, rolando... the whole bowing to a king complaint is so lame. If you'd like to, we can look at some photos of President Bush smooching the same Saudi king and then walking off hand-in-hand like BFFs.

http://tinyurl.com/yf2oxqx

Rolando wrote: "We have been steadily bowing-out to radical islam for some years now, SCOTTYM. Our Dear Leader even bows to foreign islamic kings. I am surprised he didn't kiss his ring."
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Rolando, if you were not so shallow in the depth of your adopted opinions, and so ready to lump all Islamics into one convenient basket of mistrust and hate, you would be aware with that King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the man in question that Obama may or may not have bowed to, because the jury is still out on the matter, is widely know for his respect of many other religions.

In March of 2008, King Abdullah called for a sincere dialogue between believers from all religions.

Abdullah held a conference in June of 2008 to urge Muslim leaders to speak with one voice with Jewish and Christian leaders.

King Abdullah and his government brought together Muslim and non-Muslim nations to to attempt to eradicate the preconception of Islam and Terrorism, at a meeting that was held at the United Nations in November of 2008.

Among those in attendance of that meeting, included former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, Israeli President Shimon Peres, King Abdullah of Jordan, and none other than George Walker Bush.

You see, the trouble with some people is that they can't quite grasp the concept that being Islamic doesn't necessarily translate into being a terrorist.

And of course, there isn't any surprise on my part when I run across such people. They often fail to recognize that radicalism exists within our more accepted form of religious expression, otherwise referred to as Christianity.

Until recent years, Jewish people living in this country were just as ostracized by many ignorant, self-proclaimed, Christian people, who seem to be constantly and immensely dismayed by anyone who rejects their ideologies.

Some of these more radical people were known to don white sheets with holes in them to protect their identities, topped them off with pointed hats, and then conducted strange rituals in the dark of night while burning crosses, their chosen symbol of deep 'religious' faith. Terrorism was also a part of their platform, as has been remarkably documented over the centuries. Many people are still alive who can attest to such events quite clearly.

I doubt that I will ever have opportunity to ever meet King Abdullah, but if the circumstance ever were to occur, I would bow to the man, because he most certainly is one of the good guys and a man who commands respect because he shows respect.

I again remind you that King Abdullah is the same man that GWB strolled around his ranch with, hand in hand, on April 26, 2005, just four months prior to him being crowned and enthroned as King of Saudi Arabia.

Could there be any evidence of a double standard in this country? Naw...never.

Canary

To say that Iraq was better off under Saddam Hussein is not to endorse his governance,it's just an aknowledgement that Iraq is less stable now than pre-Hussein.

Our eight years of intervention have not produced positive results in the region and many would say that it has been an economic and political disaster for the US. To think that we can change life in 35,000 Afghan villages is to combine arrogance with ignorance. We can't.

Afghans will ultimately decide what works for Afghans,not foreign interventionists. The American public is coming to this conclusion,Obama does not seem to be there yet.

Our superpower status was based on wealth and might. Half of that foundation is now gone and might can't continue for long without wealth. We need an exit stategy,not a continuation strategy if we are to have any chance of regaining our economic and political health.

canaryinthecoalmine wrote: "We can never just "put a lid" on a murderous dictator or on a single terrorist. That answer is the uncompassionate way to say 'Just leave those folks to deal with it, who cares if they're raped/tortured/killed? As long as I am okay'.

Others say, 'How long do you all in America think you will stay okay'?"
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A murderous dictator can be dethroned with the insertion of a carefully aimed bullet, launched by a well trained sniper. There's no need to destroy a nation to effectively right a wrong.

War is big business in this nation and as such, it's very hard to separate that simple fact from any claim that we gone to war to protect the citizens of this nation. It's been about 60 years or so, since a claim of defending this nation has existed on solid ground.

You also offer your remarks as if rape, torture, and murder does not occur in the United States, nor by our own, home grown rapists, torturers, and murderers.

We're not stopping it from happening here, so what makes anyone think that we can effectively bring it to a halt over there, regardless of the who's and why's that can be cited in comparison?

There are over 6,000,000 reported, violent criminal acts that occur in this nation each year.

Need I type any more?

Nope. The number speaks for itself.

Note: millions of us saw the very clear video of Obama approaching the King and then bowing-below the waist, as required to an Islamic ruler. Bush took the King's hand on his ranch as a courtesy to an older person while walking on uneven ground-a polite gesture, esp. in the Middle East. Huge difference and one that denotes subservience to another, is bowing to a ruler in the M.E. Huge statement and you guys know if Bush had bowed...the media would have never made any excuses for excoriating him.

Everytime someone mentions the facts re: Islam and Islamic terrorism two things happen: We're accused of racism and accused of past, national or religious sins. The facts today and the myriad examples (recently in Ohio) reported around the country mean nothing.

Many Christians today, which is never reported of course, have asked forgiveness for the sins of their fathers in mistreating the Jews and other racial groups and work to repair relations.

Many of us are Messianic Jewish believers who work and worship with Israeli believers and Gentiles (including Arab and Palestinian believers) around the world. Shocking isn't it? That many of us could have actually moved beyond the racism of the past, yet are still able to tell the truth and reject 'political, nicey, nicey, correctness'.

So far, I agree with some of you that our soldiers have waged war on foreign soil and some innocent civilians have been killed. It isn't the first war in history to see that and won't be the last. But our soldiers go to battle in recognizable uniforms and are subject to Geneva Convention's rule of law. How many other nations have prosecuted their own soldiers when they ignored lawful conduct on the battlefield or broke local laws? Precious few except the US and Canada.

In contrast, Islamic terrorists sneak over borders and tunnel into cities, blow up women and children and cut the heads off of US citizens, journalists and citizens of other countries. When was the last time a practicing Christian or Jewish citizen blew up and cut the heads off Saudi or Jordanian or Egyptian Muslim-citizens, just for being a citizen of those countries? Would the UN stand by and do nothing in that case? Hardly. Yet they allow we 'infidels' to be destroyed and our naked, burned soldier's bodies hung from bridges in Baghdad while Muslims everywhere celebrate in the streets. Ah, one law for them, another for us.

Terrorists kill their own and declare Jihad on many nations of "infidels', want Israel blown up and all Jews 'removed' from the world. Name one Religion today that makes the same statements AND builds cells around the world. Cells of violence. When's the last time any of you went into a Bible-believing/practicing church and heard hate and violence being preached? We have mosques in this nation, Canada and Europe where that is a daily occurrence. This is not picking on any one individual, it is just a fact, just like the fact that Saddam gassed and killed millions in the Middle East and the "peace"-making rulers you mention, including the King of Jordan said and did NOTHING. That is the difference between their ideology and ours.

"If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword". That goes for any nation, I play no favorites.

PS: The US/CIA wanted to "take out" Saddam. They couldn't and as you read above, the rest of the world/the UN appeases the evil ones, they have no stomach and no backbone for it. They're content to let us do the dirty work.

All the more reason for us to pack up and return home and let them fend for themselves.

We no longer have the resources to police the world and we have our own problems to deal with.

canaryinthecoalmine wrote: "Note: millions of us saw the very clear video of Obama approaching the King and then bowing-below the waist, as required to an Islamic ruler. Bush took the King's hand on his ranch as a courtesy to an older person while walking on uneven ground-a polite gesture, esp. in the Middle East. Huge difference and one that denotes subservience to another, is bowing to a ruler in the M.E."
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As I stated previously when this subject came up, what our President chooses to do when greeting a foreign national is completely up to them and how it is viewed by we, the common citizens, is of no consequence.

Some feel that Obama was being subservient. I find that position to be more than laughable, given that there is no evidence whatsoever to lead anyone to conclude that King Abdullah has absolutely any interest in the affairs of this nation, or that he has expressed an interest in influencing so much as one official in charge of this nation.

Clearly, Saudi Arabia and their King, is an ally of the United States. To read any more into the situation is a complete waste of time, but if people desire to waste their time in doing so, more power to them.

I'll tell you what...if and when King Abdullah takes up residency in the White House, a camera catches the President bowing to him on our soil, and the man addresses this nation proclaiming himself our new leader, then let's revisit this subject again.

You may then have a point to make, and I'll readily agree with you.