We will know we have "Won" the war, when:

· We admit we have lost and that it was a tragic mistake from the beginning;

· We stop the myth of the “War on Terrorism” and begin to deal seriously with terrorism as effectively as other nations, i.e., with intelligence and not bombs;

· The U.S. foreign policy is built upon the strength of our economy and capacity to do good rather than our military strength;

· We are strong enough to not be driven by fear;

· We humbly admit that we have not “won a war” since W.W. II.;

· Our media take responsibility for its failures in leading the clarion call into the war;

· We demand that our journalists and congressional representatives stop communicating in sound bites that have no logical or historical context and begin to treat the public like rational adults;

· We start acting as thought we truly know how much our investment in our “military superiority” has left us poorer as a nation with a deteriorating infrastructure of education, health care, transportation, energy, the environment, etc.

· We can gratefully admit that our “empire” has run it course and we are ready to rejoin the community of nations, a bit poorer, but wiser.

Merle