Do I always swim against the tide?

Do I always swim against the tide?

I never thought I'd say this, but after being against the Iraq war since the outset, I have serious misgivings about the current talk of getting out as fast as possible. When everyone else was gung ho for the war I was against it. And now I'm looking at it differently.

Oh, don't get me wrong: I'm still against the war - any war. But the reality is we've made a mess of Iraq. Don't we have a moral obligation to clean it up. It is going to be expensive by every possible measure. But the alternative - packing our bags and going home - looks a whole lot worse.

This idea has been lurking for me for months, but an interview with retired Marine Col. Thomas Hammes on NPR gave voice to my thoughts: we got into the war on stupid, thoughless impulse; we shouldn't use the same impulsive process for getting out.

I don't know how I reconcile this with my pacifism. I couldn't carry a gun, but neither am I ready to sign up for CPT. So I'm both out of step with popular opinion and unwilling to put my life on the line for my values.