US troops in Iraq: to fight or not to fight?

I expect a lot of Marines and soldiers in Iraq are having second thoughts about going on partols in Iraq right now, patrols where they know they stand a chance of getting killed. In fact, if I were one of them, I'd do everything I could NOT to go on a patrol. Why? Well, with the new Democratic Congress about to change the game, to include trying to bring a lot of troops home or to set a time line on when American troops will come home. I'd not want to be killed while the politicians are busy changing the rules of the game, when the new rules they come up with might mean I wouldn't stand a chance of being killed at all. Also, Democrats and others of their ilk are happy, very happy, even feeling victorious over the replacement of Donald Rumsefeld (sp) at US Secretary of Defense. One thing Rumsfeld recently that they should remember and all Americans and people in the world should remember is the war on terriorism is not like any other war that the US has ever fought. There are no "front lines." The terrorists do not have a country. They operate from many countries, such as Great Britain where officials there recently said many terrorists plots are underway there--no doubt among Muslims. Whatever mistakes President Bush, Rumsfeld or anyone else has made in this war on terrorism should properly be called lessons. They were lessons that had to be learned as the US and its allies continue to change the way they fight this war because this is a new way to wage war, at least on a global scale. When asked about the election and the changes it wrought in the US, a number of people in Europe made their usual negative, America-hating comments--except for a Danish politician. He said that he hoped the Republicans and Democrats would get together and work together because, "The world needs a vigorous United States." I think the basis of his comment could be that phrase in the American Declaration of Independence that says that every person has the right "to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."I like that Danish politician's comment, and I suggest that those who look for an exit strategy from Iraq in six months, two years or whatever, remember that the US still has troops in Germany, England Japan who are left over from World War II that ended on the battlefield in 1945. There are still American troops in Korea as result of a war where the hostilities ended in 1953. The war on terrorism will probably last 30 or 40 years, maybe longer. And, it has no chance of ending until people who espouse killing other people because they do not believe the way they do stop doing that. This is a little disjointed because I have had trouble with the blog system. I hope my ideas are clear, however.