Precipitous withdrawal

I was reflecting on President Bush's statements about the disastrous consequences of precipitous withdrawal. I was having these thoughts whilst entertaining a fille sympa, so his comments were particularly relevant and I could not but agree with the President on this issue. Once an incursion is successfully implemented, there is a natural--and compelling--instinct that drives one to the logical conclusion of the act; a primal imperative, one might say. I felt this in a very profound way last night, which led me to ignore the nay-saying voices in my head urging a precipitous withdrawal. I now have a greater understanding of our President. I see how a precipitous withdrawal might well have resulted in a catastrophic effect on future relations with said party. I stayed the course, as the President advocates, and withdrew only after my resources were exhausted and there was no more to be done.

President Bush lost me, however, when he tried to make the point that we effected a precipitous withdrawal in Vietnam. According to my calculations, we haven't suffered a single casualty there in thirty-two years. Possibly, we didn't get out soon enough. Perhaps, one could say, we had no business being there in the first place.