William F. Buckley on Iraq

The Vietnam war was well underway before Walter Cronkite finally came right out and said that the United States was at war. Before that, nobody could actually say so out loud.

Will it be the words of this Grand Old Conservative to bring this conflict to an end?

One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed...Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. The great human reserves that call for civil life haven't proved strong enough. No doubt they are latently there, but they have not been able to contend against the ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols.