[x-factor]

Peregrino - NDD's original question was "have they thought this through?" I'm expressing the counterargument from the "pro-withdrawal" opinion in the US domestic debate about the war, not playing from the jihadist position...which I thought was the desired tact. If my arguments have ignored a critical factor, its because the "pro-withdrawal" element does not see it as a critical factor. The point of the last page and a half, I think, is: yes the pro-withdrawal crowd has thought this through, but they're working from a very different set of assumptions about how the enemy thinks and how Arab/Muslim culture operates.

In anycase, I think you're right that politics part of the discussion has run its course by identifying specifically where the pro/con positions on withdrawal diverge. I'll redirect in my next post.