We seem to be on the threshold of one of my biggest fears about the Gulf War. The United States (and other members of the coalition) occupies a third of another country; a myriad of rebel groups (supported from within and without) battle Saddam's loyalists; Saddam's loyalists are attempting to annihilate the rebels; and both the rebels and the loyalists demand that the United States get out of Iraq.

Hopefully this won't become another Lebanon. If it does, you can be sure that we will be in the Middle East a long time - after all, we can't let anything happen to our precious oil.