No consensus for conclusion 

The war's heavy toll led to broad reckoning, including the Bush administration.

But there's no broad consensus on how to find a way out in Iraq.

Bush and his supporters as well as the military argued the troop "surge" in Iraq has worked and they will stay the course until a final victory. If there is any mistake in the war policy, that is the tactics used in early stage of the war.

Democrats called for a quick withdrawal but they just can't get enough votes on Capitol Hill to force Bush to withdraw the troops.

Leading Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama promised to start the withdrawal shortly after taking office in the White House.

But they need more time to convince the US public that their plans will work.

Some anti-war activists have deeper thoughts and said the war's biggest lesson is the "empire mentality" of US politicians.

They say the United States should rely more on peaceful means to get the world's cooperation and respect and no preemptive and unilateral strikes like the war in Iraq.

However, it is a position that the world's sole superpower will find hard to take.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2008)