More Violence in Iraq

Several car bombs rocked the Iraqi city of Baghdad today, killing 16 and wounding dozens. Elsewhere in Iraq, 26 others were killed or found dead, including several who appeared to have been taken away by "death squads" and murdered. A U.S. Marine was killed in Anbar province.

Perhaps even more telling was an incident yesterday in which a British Lynx helicopter was apparently brought down by an enemy rocket, killing at least five. After British troops rushed to secure the crash scene, they were greeted by a group of Iraqis who fired shots and threw rocks at them. Another larger group stood by and cheered. Five Iraqis were killed, and several more British troops were injured.

I don't know if the Iraq War was a good idea or not. The cost of human life has been terrible, and it seems sometimes that little progress has been made. Everybody has their own opinion about what the future holds, both for the allies and for Iraq. But I do believe that we have to follow through and win this thing, or else we'll be fighting the same damned people in the same damned place again in a few more years. Let's make the second time the charm and kill the people that need killing, help the people that need helping, and get the hell out of there. Then if the Iraqis decide they'd rather go back to killing each other, so be it.