I think America has demonstrated quite well that one can develop a tremendous global economy without placing a yoke of colonialism on anyone's shoulders.

At the same time though, those very populaces are quite familar with that yoke, so when we do change our approach and begin conducting "justified" occupations, you have to expect the occupied populaces to look at that event just a teeeny bit differently than we do. Tricky business that.

But as I like to say: "While it may be right to do the wrong thing, it is never wrong to do the right thing."

Time to swallow the ego and start doing the right thing. We fear that we will be accused of cutting and running. There is a big difference between running away from a situation because you are scared, and backing out of a situation that you never belonged in in the first place. Particularly if you are committed to ensuring that you don't just let it collapse into chaos behind you. This isn't just on GWOT issues, actually it is primarily on Cold War issues. Time to balance the books and get back in synch with our national principles. We'll actually gain far more credibilty in that process than we will lose.