Reply #6: why are we in Iraq.

[Harlequin]

I've heard it described as a method of "bleeding" terrorist attacks away from our domestic soil... i.e., let our soldiers take bullets instead of our civilians, with a low-intensity conflict like Israel in Iraq acting as a lightning rod for the terrorism we foment. Israel/Palestinian authority, while terrible, was generally acceptable to the world at the "a few lives here, a few lives there" level. So it may well be with Iraq.