The Definition of "Win"

According to the presumptive GOP nominee and the current President, we should remain in Iraq until we "win" or "achieve victory." I never entertained the notion nor the semantics of such argument but Steve Benen articulates the point well. If we are to make the Iraq War an issue of debate should we not define the terms used when arguing for a position.

Slate’s Fred Kaplan attempted to grapple the issue and concluded that, "[B]y the Bush administration’s own standards of success, laid out in the president’s speech and the NSC’s strategy review, we are no closer to victory now than we were when those documents were drafted."  It's no surprise then that McCain would boast about numbers like 100 or even 1000 years.

Benen adds, "the president has defined “victory” in such a way as to make it practically impossible," which make sense since it would be foolish for him to define a standard to be judged upon. One can not fairly assess what is going on in Iraq nor the War on Terror if there is no way to grade it. And that's the magic that Bush and Company have been able to create. McCain is not far behind on the agenda which begs the question: How do we win something that can not be won?