[The Old Hoosier]

A strong ally? I doubt they'll be as strong as their predecessor regime. If we're lucky, there won't be a civil war. You notice that the insurgents, knowing it's too hard to go after us, are now just murdering civilians. Will they stop doing that when we're gone?

[ohioWfan]

No one knows that. But that is not finally the point.

There is no longer a government there that murders its own citizens by the thousands. There IS a government that is pro-US, pro-democracy. There are bad guys (many of whom are not even Iraqi), but that doesn't mean that the cause of freedom is doomed to failure.

Iraq is our ally, and they are in the heart of the Middle East.

All the pessimism and isolationism in the world doesn't change the facts. And the fact is, that we have achieved victory in Iraq, and a fledgling democracy is growing where once there was brutality and tyrrany.

[Allegra]

I doubt they'll be as strong as their predecessor regime. If we're lucky, there won't be a civil war. You notice that the insurgents, knowing it's too hard to go after us, are now just murdering civilians. Will they stop doing that when we're gone?

Go back and read your post WWII history. The Nazis didn't stop their brutalities right away after that war, either. Not for a few years.

This civil war crap has been trumpeted by the media for well over a year now. I haven't seen it happen yet. Nor will we.

And yes, I mean a strong ally. Of course, I don't have the same perspective you do. I'm just over here in Iraq working long hours seven days a week and don't have as much time to watch CNN and read the NYT. So, yeah, I guess you know more than I do about this.