The Letterman Question

Bill O'Reilly asked David Letterman a question.

O'Reilly: Let me ask you something. And this is a serious question. Do you want the United States to win in Iraq?

Which seems like a very good question to me.

If you get a yes than the next question is "How?"

I have some ideas. No doubt others have more and better answers. Without a "yes" the rest is irrelevant.

The Iraqi President says what they need is two to three more years of American help.

PARIS (Reuters) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday U.S. troops should remain in Iraq for up to three more years to help bring peace to the country, envisaging a slower withdrawal programme than that suggested by Washington.

At the start of a week-long visit to France, Talabani rejected suggestions Iraq had descended into civil war and accused the media of focusing exclusively on negative stories.

However, he said "international terrorists" were still concentrating all their efforts in Iraq which meant the country needed outside help to defeat them.

"We need time. Not 20 years, but time. I personally can say that two to three years will be enough to build up our forces and say to our American friends 'Bye bye with thanks'," Talabani told a conference organised by the IFRI think-tank.

Winning will probably take longer, but stabilization (where the Iraqis handle the fighting with little American help) is possible in the not too distant future. American Generals think a year to a year and a half. The Iraqi President thinks twice that long. It is doable if the American peopole stick with the project.