When do we leave Iraq?

[gee double you bee]

Here's my layman's, politically neutral understanding of the situation as it stands today: Our troops are still needed in Iraq because the security situation is violent and unstable. It's violent and unstable due to a seemingly unending supply of people willing to blow themselves up in public places, killing many others with them, also road side bombs, rocket attacks, ect. Since the coalition is actually drawing back, and the US is losing soldiers to death and injury every day, and with no apparent plans to up the troop level, we're actually getting weaker while the insurgency (or whatever term you prefer for them) is getting stronger, or at least staying steady.

So here my question, and I know it sounds rhetorical because things are so fucked up, but any actual insight would be really appreciated: When are we leaving Iraq? When will this war end? Because from what I can gather, an end isn't in sight.

Is my math off here, am I missing something rather obvious?

[Sparkly]

1. I asked something similar here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1777455

[mike_c]

2. I think the basic pottery barn premise is deeply flawed....

First, the U.S. has absolutely no legitimate, legal business in Iraq. The invasion was predicated on a pack of lies by the "leader" of the United States. It has no moral foundation. Second, the continued occupation is itself largely responsible for the "security situation" that underpins the pottery barn response-- that and Iraqi distaste for the puppet government the U.S. is trying to install. Is this beginning to sound like the Soviet experience in Afghanistan yet? Yes, we broke it, but we can neither buy it nor fix it.

It is time to get out NOW. We should never have invaded in the first place-- every justification put forward to rationalize the invasion has utterly failed. There will be nothing gained by our continued presence except more death and destruction. Yes, leaving will be terrible, but that's because of the situation that we've created, and we must accept responsibility for that, while also accepting that we cannot restore what we have destroyed. The destruction will turn out to have been wanton. This is our national shame. We only compound it by continuing the occupation.