I heard Joe Lieberman on C-span recently and think that what he is saying makes sense. I trust Joe. I didn't vote for him when he ran with Al (Gore); but, by all rights, if you think about it, sans the electoral college, Joe would have been VP and possibly one day, Prez. Ain't it funny how life is often wielded by inches?

Joe's article in the Wall Street Journal could easily have been written by the President's speech writers. Joe told of progress in Iraq. His description of what is going on in Iraq and for the Iraqis is almost at the gushing level. I still trust Joe and only pose a basic perplexing question: What is the real truth? Joe's avowed purpose with his article is to make the case for keeping the troops in Iraq. I agree. We can't pull out, but we need a different mix, which does not include conventional soldiers. We need another way.

There seems to be this overwhelming idea on the part of Joe and more importantly the President to adhere to a military solution and the word of commanders. All commanders tell the relative truth; but, by their very nature, they are not in a position to assess the overall situation. There's too much chaos in Iraq, too many deaths to think that merely staying the course is the one thing that is going to do it.

Joe deals in political solutions for the Iraqis and by the Iraqis. Although I think, based on what I read again, that he is too optimistic. I don't know if his basic overwhelming support for Israel makes his comments slightly suspect. I simply don't know. Joe cites statistics on how the Iraqis feel. For instance, he says that "polls conducted by Iraqis for Iraqi universities say two-thirds feel they are better off than they were under Saddam. And, a resounding 82% are confident their lives in Iraq will be better a year from now than they are today." I don't doubt that this is true. But, there are similar polls that most of us Americans who care read where 83% of Iraqi say they want us out. Are we making that up? Is Joe? No.

This is a philosophy that the military now has in place. I liked what Joe said about mistakes or mismanagement as I prefer to call it. He said we have screwed up big time in many areas and let's admit it and move forward. His rosy picture of how well the Iraqi forces are doing is interesting with a mention of how we are in control of Fallujah. I'm not sure that the families of the 10 dead Marines would quite feel that way since they were killed in the very place Joe says we have cleared.

I think Joe gives a good assessment of Iraq; and, based on my respect for him, I'd go along. I think things are way too political, there is not enough realism. and, definitely, not the right mix of troops in Iraq. And, the fact that I'm going along with him doesn't mean that Iraq, in my view, is not a mess.

One of the things that makes Iraq a mess which we refuse to face: we cannot beat the fanatics who kill our people and innocents. And, when the President talks about total victory, he and Joe are in denial. The President says, "I'm giving commanders the say so." Hell, if you know the military, a commander knows merely what is in front of him. Often he doesn't see the big picture and there's always parochialism with the military. It is why we have civilians basically to make the heavy decisions like how many troops to have, overall strategy; and, in our case, a time to declare victory and go home.

I'm not sure that I see it quite Joe's way about the political process. Anybody with one eye and half sense can see that the Shiites are going to own the country after the election and then what happens? Not sure a the rosy picture will be painted. My prediction: they are going to zap the Sunnis who repressed them for years; and, based on how smart they are, they might or might not go after the Kurds who have their own little economically booming relatively safe region within Iraq . The insurgents are not going to quit. We cannot beat people who have no regard for human life and are fanatics in their cause. There's no winning and no defeating them.

Our best hope is what Joe is saying is going to happen: the Iraqis taking over with us in support roles. What is very difficult for me is accepting the fact that we are going to be there for years and consequently seeing young Americans die for years. I still trust Joe with reservations. (photo:http://granite2004.bu.edu/gallery/images/012504lieberman2.jpg)