Monday Open Thread: Iraq Edition

So, time to bring up a touchy subject. I find myself straddling the two camps between “we broke it, and thus we must fix it” and “let’s get the hell out of there”. Basically it boils down to a hope that the surge works as expected and gives us the ability to make a pretty significant withdrawal, without appearing to be taking off with our tails between our legs, even if the situation we leave isn’t ideal. If I were in charge, I would make a withdrawal over maybe 2 1/2 years, province-by-province, all the while letting the Iraqi’s know that this is becoming their own responsibility.

I know this blog, from the contributors to the readers, spans pretty much all sides of the issue. So what are your thoughts? How and when would you like to see America leave Iraq (“never” is an acceptable option here, if you believe we need to work with the new Iraqi government to keep a presence in the region). What steps or metrics, if any, do you think need to be accomplished first?