I have been asked recently by a reader if I am for real. Can I be serious in my views? How can I truly believe that victory in Iraq is possible? Am I just blowing smoke and talking about the impossible for money, fame or attention? That’s a fair question and here is the answer…yes I am for real. Yes, I am serious. Yes, I believe victory in Iraq is possible. And no I am not in it for money or fame (though I wouldn’t say not to either one).

I absolutely believe that we can win in Iraq. It is not a secret that we have one of the strongest and best equipped militaries in the world. We have the man-power, we have the technology and we have the weaponry to devastate any country in the world. That is not something we need to be ashamed of. That is the simple truth. Is there anyone who believes that we lack the practical means to wipe Iraq off the face of the earth? No.

We have not won in Iraq yet because we have been fighting a civilized war. That is far more than we can say for our enemies. We are fighting fanatics who leave IED’s and don’t care if they kill military of civilian targets. We are fighting terrorists who willfully and with premeditation target innocent men, women and children to press their own extremist agenda. We are not the bad guys. The bad guys attacked us. The bad guys killed 2,973 people on September 11th and were disappointed that they hadn’t killed more. The simple reason that we have not won in Iraq is because we are the good guys and we are fighting fair.

Our troops are putting themselves at greater risk out of their concern for the Iraqi people. They are circumspect in their actions, they are carefully in who the arrest. They are working not only to preserve the infrastructure of Iraq as much as possible; they are also working to rebuild that which has been destroyed. They are not only rebuilding the damage caused by the Iraq War, but damage caused by the oppressive rule of Saddam Hussein.

Is victory in Iraq possible? Absolutely. But we want a just victory; a victory that honors those who have fallen, that benefits the Iraqi people and that makes our country safer. So victory will take longer than we want because we are fighting the good fight. Which is far more than we can about our enemies.