Iraq Conflict

Those who continue to defend the war in Iraq say that we can't bring our troops home until we achieve victory. But what does that mean? Eliminate WMD's - Done by the UN before GW took office. Remove Saddam - Done. Write Constitution- Done. Ensure Elections - Done. What exactly do these people consider victory? The biggest problem with this war is that we should have never gotten involved in it in the first place. While we are wasting our resources on the Bush-Cheney war, we can't defend our nation from legitimate threats. The second biggest problem is no definition for victory. You can't achieve victory when you don't even know what it is.

Here at my workplace we have to write objectives every year. Then at the end of the year, our raises and bonuses are based on how well we achieved these objectives. If we exceed expectations, we get big money. If we fail to meet expectations, we get nothing.

Specific Spell out what is to be achieved and to what degree
Measurable Can be measured either quantitatively or qualitatively
Achievable The target is challenging, yet attainable
Results Oriented Identify a specific end product or outcome that is of value
Time Bound Set a timeframe for achieving the result

The Administration needs to create SMART objectives for the war. They don't necessarily have to publish what they are, but they do need to prove that they exist and that they will stick to them. It would certainly be best to share them, but not if it undermines the effort by revealing too much to the enemy. They at least have to share them with Congress. Preferably have some sort of reward if they stick to them and a punishment if they don't.

They don't need a timetable, they just need to have some way of defining victory. Some way of concretely proving we have accomplished what we set out to do and we can go home now. As it is now, we don't even know what the objectives are, yet alone whether we have achieved them.