Donald Rumsfield - WHO ME ???? Got to be kidding!!!

Getting back to having the courage of your convictions, the current US President certainly has that. And please remember that America is not at war with Iraq. I have stated in other threads what I believe he was trying to accomplish, and he has succeeded in doing it. Now all we have to do is to wait and see what the Iraqi authorities declare and what the inspection teams report.

LH - a lot earlier in this thread we discussed the differences of the terms "unconditional" and "negotiated" with regard to cessation of hostilities.

The Second World War was fought on the agreed principle among the Allies that unconditional surrender was a requirement on the part of the Axis Powers. This resulted in a period of peace in Europe that continues to this day.

Examples of negotiated settlements used to end hostilities during the twentieth century have been:

First World War - What was negotiated contributed directly to the causes of the Second World War.
Korean War - What was in fact negotiated was a ceasefire
Arab/Israeli Wars - All negotiated, with no side honouring what they agreed to do - result continued conflict.
Gulf War - Iraq, the blatant aggressor in this conflict, ended up refusing to comply with obligations it agreed to fulfil - result yet to be determined.

In other threads parallels have been drawn between Hitler and Hussein. In the case of the former, had a number of European national leaders (basically those of France and Britain) had the courage of their convictions, and faced up to their responsibilities, in the face of blatant treaty violations on the part of Nazi Germany, the Second World War need never have happened. Instead, they proceeded on what they wanted to believe would happen, and blythly ignoring what they knew could happen.

The current incumbent of the White House is not making the same mistake.

The USA is not at war with Iraq.