On “Exit Strategy”

J. D. Pendry of Old War Dogs posted this on Old War Dogs and on his site:

“In war, there are two exit strategies. One is called victory. The other is called defeat.” – Senator Joe Lieberman

Senator Joe Lieberman is a liberal. He and I would not agree on much. The difference between him and many of his political colleagues, liberal and conservative, is that he gets it. He understands that the outcome in Iraq, our pivotal battle in a global conflict, affects the security of the United States and will further define us in the eyes of our enemies for decades to come. How we leave this fight will brand us as a nation that pursues it enemies to the end or one that lacks the will to sustain tough battles. Our political failure and loss of national will in Vietnam three decades ago stand as evidence of that.

Read it all. J. D. Pendry is, of course, correct in his assessment. He might be mistaken on one issue: I suspect that he and Joe Lieberman might agree on a bunch of things, the war effort being the most important of them. That is because Senator Lieberman is the last member of the Democratic Party to whom the classical definition of liberalism still applies. You know, the classical liberalism that is mostly found on the Right nowadays. Oh, wait! Senator Lieberman is no longer a member of the Democratic Party. He was kicked out! Well, I guess, there are no more real liberals in the Democratic Party.
But back to the quote. I found it in full:

“In war, there are two exit strategies. One is called victory. The other is called defeat and America has too much on the line in Iraq to accept defeat.”

Kind of explains the essence of the exit strategy, doesn’t it? But just to reiterate, let me again quote good old Winston Churchill, whom I consider one the greatest statesmen of all times:

…You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

There. How is that for the “exit strategy”?