For one thing there's no "student movement" demanding pullout -- lest more students get caught in the proceedings. Unlike Vietnam, there's no powerful Soviet-equipped army in the field against us; our foes are the equivalent of a criminal gang. Criminals can cause plenty of harm, but in the end, criminals are all they are. If we can't prevail over a bunch of hoods and psychos, have we any business holding ourselves out as the model nation?

 Nor -- thanks to Vietnam -- is it as hard as it once was to understand the consequences of quitting when the going gets tough, like now. America's premature pullout from Vietnam before the job was done finished off the United States morally and emotionally for some little time, during which our enemies advanced relentlessly -- in Afghanistan, among other places.

 It's too bad this job has turned out to be tougher than expected. But "bad" isn't "calamitous" -- the condition into which everything would fall were we to say to democratic, liberty-seeking Iraq: Over to you; call us if you need anything, like advice on franchising pizza delivery service.

 The president knows the consequences of copping out. We may count on him both to recognize and live up to his understanding, which is that as awful as Iraq might be, more awful still would be a stampede now for the exits. No sensible government allows itself to be governed in turn by pollsters.