So it is pretty clear at this point that Al Quata won.

lionshead2010 wrote: I find it interesting that those who have or had little to no actual skin in the game are quick to call it a loss.

I myself didn't call it a loss, I said we are losing - the difference being the stage of the game (and let me make very clear that we're not losing because they are better, but because we aren't fighting this war smartly - we can and should be kicking @$$ without it bankrupting us). And some of my knowledge is based on my hubby's company being one of the first subcontractors in the country after we took Saddam out, and one of the ones still there (they do unexploded ordinance clean-up and construction for the DoD - schools, bridges, army barracks, etc) and talking to my friends who have been, and still are, working there, about the situation. I don't profess to know everything intimately, but I'm a big picture kind of girl and the fact of the matter is that our debt is increasing, and the cost of the 2 wars is contributing heavily to it. We need to get the Afghani's and Iraqi's stepping up and taking ownership of their own countries and getting the hell out ASAP.

As for unemployment in regards to returning soldiers, the article I've posted twice now about resurrecting the WPA addressed that issue by calling for a segment specifically devoted to unemployed vets and using their additional skill sets and expertise for projects. http://www.truth-out.org/put-15-million ... 1311271379
Put 15 Million Back to Work Fixing $2.2 Trillion in Infrastructure: the Works Progress Administration
Saturday 23 July 2011
by: Barbara G. Ellis Ph.D

Interestingly, it's entirely possible that one of the sticking points in Obama's pallid July drawdown from Afghanistan of 5,000 troops - instead of the expected 100,000 - has been concern that any reduction of the military anywhere will only add thousands to the unemployment lines. Too many people remember 1975, when unemployment was at 8.5 percent - almost 8 million people. Or 1983, when it was 9.7 percent, or over 10.7 million workers. Thousands of Vietnam veterans were in those lines, either because they couldn't find work or were emotionally unfit for the workplace.

Now, let's imagine that the president and Congress decide to resurrect the WPA - especially considering the 2012 election. That they quickly inaugurate WPA-II and split it into two divisions: deployed military and able-bodied civilians.

Project Design/Implementation:
Total responsibility would fall to the Army Corps of Engineers (as with the original WPA) and the US Navy's Construction Battalions (also known as the "Seabees"). The Seabees have a long history of producing WPA-like projects rapidly and reliably, from World War II and Korea to Vietnam, the Gulf, Bosnia and Iraq. In Afghanistan, they have completed 625 public works assignments: roads, bridges, causeways, schools, hospitals, orphanages, utility systems, community centers, upgrading airfields and ports, digging wells and sewers.[15] Specialists in base construction - including camps for 42,000 troops and galleys feeding 75,000 - they would also supervise construction of workers' housing and galleys.

(BTW, did you see my reply to your post at the bottom of Pg 6? It got buried pretty quickly)