“I believe this war of civilizations... is one of the most important wars we have ever fought. In the Revolutionary War back in 1775-1783, we had extraordinary leaders, including George Washington... We forget that he lost almost every battle at that time, but he ultimately won the war... In World War II, American casualties totaled 291,577 dead and 671,846 injured. Under the extraordinary leadership of F.D.R., the Allies ultimately won the war, despite losing a number of battles... Why do I recite these historical facts? Because I believe that the U.S. is faltering in the current war... and we are losing our will to prevail. We are losing our fighting spirit as a result of fighting between Republicans and Democrats on just how to prosecute the war... [Making] our involvement in Iraq a partisan issue and characterizing the president’s efforts to protect the homeland from terrorists in an adversarial manner is endangering the country at a moment in time when we are facing an existential threat to our very survival as a nation.” —Ed Koch, former Democrat mayor of New York City