Iraq has a population in excess of 30 million people. I say let’s leave 30 million AK-47s and several billion rounds of ammunition there and let those folks stand up for themselves. The U.S. could provide whatever miltiary support that it necessary to support the government (air support, logistical expertise, etc.), but there’s no way in hell U.S. troops should be functioning as police officers in a hostile Third World environment like that.
Giving a shop-keeper an AK-47 doesn’t give him the expertise to hunt down terrorists. President Bush told us in 2001 that this war would be very long and that the battlefields would look very different.
WE’RE NOT THROUGH IN IRAQ. FINISH THE JOB!
The US is supporting the duly elected government of Iraq resist the efforts of a relatively small group of extremists from overthrowing it. I might add, the Iraqi security forces, military and police, have lost three times the number of KIAs than we have since the beginning of 2005. Iraqis are fighting and dying for their country. And Iraqi government officials and their families have been targetted for assassination and have been assassinated by the terrorists. They should be commended for their courage and resolve.
And what in the heck do you think we have been doing? The Iraqi government has allowed one weapon per household now. And it has taken time to build an Army from scratch. The thing that bothers me is the huge portion of Americans just don't understand how hard it is to build an Iraqi army and at the same time trying to enforce security. It is darn near impossible to stop well armed death squads.