You're right, of course. The only other option was to stay until a cultural change happened among the Iraqis, but that could have been decades.
Still, I can't help but think that this scenario is nearly identical to how we had the Vietnam War won, only to lose it a short time later because Democrats abandoned the nation we were trying to help against an intractable enemy.
“The only other option was to stay until a cultural change happened among the Iraqis, but that could have been decades.”
Not decades. Not centuries. More like millennia. The Sunnis and Shi’ites have been killing each other for over 1,200 years. We should not be involved with that. Instead, we should nuke the place and be done with it forever.