Yet another note on the Iraq War...

I've been reading alot recently on the overall desire to "end the war." It's got me thinking what does it mean to end a war? Is a total troop pull out the end of the war? If we leave is the war really over? If we leave Iraq who would be the winner? If we turn our back on this conflict does it still exist? This new kind of war really really sucks. There can be no signed declaration of surrender, there can be no real victory either. Modern war can no longer be waged on a political state. It's a battle of ideals, and this new kind of warfare is dependent on who has more resolve. Negotiations have a way of putting a band-aid on things, but as we've seen time and time again they will break down, because those who have the big titles have no power over those who do the fighting. What we have in Iraq is the ultimate example of the meaning of the separation of church and state. I have very little problem with Islamic morality being written in thier laws, the problems come when the sectarian lines blind the government to the reality.
We don't need to look too far back in our own history to get an idea of what's going on. What we are seeing appears to be kinda similar to the Protestant/Catholic conflicts that ravaged Europe for centuries. And the echoes of those conflict continue to this day.
What am I saying? The Iraq war is just one part of a much larger conflict, and packing up and leaving will not make it go away. I'm not sure if the war will "come to our shores". But I do think it will affect our allies in Europe in ways we cannot predict yet.