The USA is not going to "win" the war in Iraq no matter who is president. The war in Iraq is unwinnable. It will continue until foreign troops leave, and it will probably continue after that as well...for some time.

You can always find a fool who justifies further bloodletting on the basis of justifying previous bloodletting...so that "our boys didn't die in vain". Ha! They all die in vain. Every last one of them. Most of the Iraquis who have been killed also died in vain. Perhaps all of them too....but at least they have a real reason to fight!. They're defending their own national sovereignty and their culture against a foreign invader who launched an illegal war over WMD's that did not exist in order to take control of their oil!!!

Every American that ever dies on Iraqi soil WILL die in vain. By definition. You cannot NOT die in vain when you are the tool of an aggressor in an unjust war.