1. You can't win.

2. You can't break even.

3. You can't leave the game.

That's entropy for you. Of course, I'm also reminded of something else:

Bush's Iraq policy. (For rule #3, don't say "can't". Say "won't."

Frank Rich concludes his column today:

The lesson [from VietNam] is clear and sobering. As bad as things may seem now, they can yet become worse, and not just in Iraq. The longer we pretend we have not lost there, the more we risk losing other wars [plural??] we may still salvage, starting [??] in Afghanistan.

The members of the Iraq Study Group are all good Americans of proven service to their country [with the exception of Ed Meese, of course]. But to the extent that their report forestalls reality and promotes pipe dreams of one last chance for success in this fiasco, it will be remembered as just one more delusional milestone in the tragedy of our age.

Oh, translation of the three laws? "You lose."