The following lyrics should be sung to the tune of "Blowin' in the Wind."

How many times can this nation draw down,
When faced with a difficult war?
Haven't we seen what retreat has produced,
Whenever we've tried it before?

With polls showing a decline in public support for the effort to establish stability and self-determination in Iraq, aging hippies from the '60s and their anti-all-war progeny have surfaced and are picketing and singing their protest songs at President Bush's ranch and at venues where he speaks.

What do those favoring a pullout of American troops from Iraq think would happen if the president followed their advice? Do they seriously believe the United States would be safer and no longer a target of fanatical religious extremists, who believe it is their mandate from heaven to forcibly wipeout out all things Western, secular, Jewish and Christian? If they believe peace would then be given a chance, they are naive at best, and idiots at worst.

Since the American Revolution, there have been those among us who, when faced with tyranny, preferred accommodation to confrontation. There were many at our founding who wished to remain under British rule and accept whatever benefits they believed came from such a relationship. They chose not to fight in the revolution, but were happy to accept the results of independence produced by those who did.

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln received advice to give in to the Southern rebellion. If he had done so, the Union would have divided and history changed forever.

In the last century, both world wars had opponents who preferred either not to be involved, or to "settle" with the tyrants seeking to subjugate Europe and America to their totalitarian rule.

Recent history - from Vietnam, to Lebanon, to Mogadishu - has shown that quitting before the job is done means more, not less, trouble for the United States and for those it promised to help. Those retreats emboldened the likes of Osama bin Laden, who has stated that America does not have the stomach for protracted warfare. Why shouldn't he believe that when he has witnessed examples of the U.S. choosing to cut and run, not stand and fight? Continued...