"Given the good PR work after 9/11 by the Bush administration, Strick, it would have been very difficult for Congress to do anything but what they have done."

You mean like the Republicans were forced to approve funding for the little wars Clinton ran in the 90s? That's the point. This way Congress can always claim it wasn't their fault.

So if the Coalition pulls out, are we going to run a pool in how long the Iraqi civil war will last? I've got dibbs on 5 years.