It’s not too difficult to cruise the news archives and find article after article after article in which writer after writer after writer pointed out the fallacy of putting a timeline on US and allied withdrawal from Iraq (and from Afghanistan).
The common thread: the enemy would lie in wait, biding his time, content to heal his wounds and rebuild his strength, all in anticipation of that point where the international forces begin to pull out and the Iraqi forces assume a greater role in the security of the country. They would escalate their offensive actions and begin to claim victory evidenced by the pull out of the infidels, leaving the nation to its own sad devices.
Coming true before our very eyes...
While it is a sad situation,on the plus side, they at least blew up their own.
On the other hand: we have a $1.4 Trillion dollar annual deficit. America has serious problems. We have decapitated the Iraqi monster, Saddam. At some point the Iraqi people will have to determine their own fate. If their fate is endless internal fratricide, is it really our unending job to prevent it?
Why?
I see plenty of threats a LOT closer to home than Sunni vs. Shia conflict in Iraq. The Arizona border, for instance. The lack of jobs and manufacturing in the USA. Etc.