Are we winning?

I've heard it discussed on Fox news, talk radio, and on the internet so much over the last years that I am completely numb to the question. Most of the hosts and the guests have their own agenda and it's all just a bunch of white noise at any given day in the background as I go about my life. I don't know if we are winning or not. It seems to depend on your definition so I never give it much thought, except for those rare segments where they use the word "draft".

Last night, during one of those quiet father/daughter conversations that I wouldn't take a million dollars for, she asked me if we were winning the war. Time seemed to stand still as she waited for my answer. We had been talking about 9-11 some and she was asking me about children in Iraq and if they were going to tear down those buildings again. Suddenly the white noise that I have grown to ignore was now demanding an answer. I wanted the answer to be accurate and honest. Perhaps most important was explaining it on a 7 yr old level.

Honest but simple has always served me well with her. I told her that I really didn't know because it was so far away but that a lot of good and bad people had died and that I hoped we would win soon. The satisfaction that I hoped to hear in her voice, at the well thought out answer I provided, was immediately replaced with questions number 2.

"Would you or N ever have to be in a war?"

I can't remember how I answered question 2, I'm worried it wasn't honest or simple.