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It's the mantra of the president and his supporters that we won't "cut and run" from Iraq. But what does this phrase mean? It's an old sailing term for a swift retreat. A commander would slash his ship's anchor to outrace enemy fire. The implication of cutting and running was an act of prudence rather than cowardice. Cut and run and you live to fight another day. Stay the course and you drown. Today, it has become a shorthand for bugging out of Iraq and by so doing giving comfort to terrorists. But I think that the opposite is true. Iraq is not a front against terrorism as a fuel for terrorism, and the president's insistence on staying the course has as much sense as standing tall in the face on any implacable disaster be it an iceburg on Titanic's bow or the horns of a raging bull. |