Now more seriously... One thing that I'm wondering about:
Yes I know it definitely is time to withdraw, and I know the actions of US Army there were far from perfect, but I just wonder... If the fundamentalists managed to be such a threat for several organised, highly modern armies, and after staying there for eight years the western armies still haven't even come close to dealing with the problem, will the Iraqi government hold on its own? Especially that, with the whole world knowing now when the US will be withdrawing, they'll have more than enough time to prepare an attack to take over the government... And I think nobody wants any country to be ruled by fundamentalists.
A bit of a conspiracy theory maybe, but I'm just unsure about this... I don't have any information to find out if this is possible.
We have propped up a very weak western-style "democracy" in Iraq at tremendous expense in both raw dollars
[borrowed from China] spent
[/borrowed from China] and lives of soldiers, literally, in my view, wasted.
Will this "democracy" last? Well, no one can predict the future, but my guess is that within 5 years Iraq will, most likely, have a similar government to that of Iran. Once the US has withdrawn, there will be very little stopping Iran from strengthening its position in the region and Iran has made no secret of their desire to spread the "Islamic Revolution" far and wide. They, and many of the Muslims in Iraq see western democracy as a poisonous, immoral plague on society. And they surely have plenty of agreement from many people who are highly placed within the current Iraqi regime.
Time will tell, but I believe history will cast the George W. Bush's invasion, occupation, and attempt at nation building in Iraq as a monumentally stupid decision.