With the execution of Saddam Hussein, there will be much commentary over the next several days on what it all means to the on-going war in Iraq. Some, like Ralph Peters, will simply say that the overthrow and eventual execution of Hussein was the right thing to do, and I agree with that, even after all the mistakes that followed the fall of Baghdad in 2003. The execution will not have any impact on the violence, as Hussein had long since been demoted to a bit player in the drama. The war will still be won or lost not in Iraq, but here in America. While George W. Bush is a stubborn man, and will almost certainly continue the war effort, his term will end in January of 2009. Unless a John McCain is elected to succeed him, I expect the next President to follow the will of the majority in Congress and the majority of the American people who want our troops to accept defeat and leave Iraq. The flaw in our war-fighting character that makes limited wars anathema to us will, as in Vietnam, lead to our defeat and humiliation, which, unlike Vietnam, will lead to a much more destructive and bitter future than we would have seen otherwise.