“I think it’s abundantly clear that Iraq will never be unified. If that were possible we’d have left a long time ago”
I think Iraq was unified in May 2003, When we stood down the augmentation forces and I was sent home, it was.
It was the invasion of foreign fighters and Al-Qaida that sparked the insurgency during the power vaccumn of 2003, it got worse in 04, 05, 06 because of mismanagement and the political climate here in America at that time.
It got better in 07,08... because of the elected government and the security offered by the surge....
Hopefully we don’t blow this opportunity to salvage success by doing something completely retarded like removing the troops ...
Thank you for your perspective, and I believe you are correct. In fact, my SIL was in Afghanistan for the elections and everything was quite orderly, if only too briefly.
My bigger concern, even though I know you’re right and that we should not pull out, is for the troops and their families. The long assignments are taking a terrible toll and I understand from a post last week that they are necessary from a practical standpoint. Still, the wear and tear on their families tugs at my heart.