u235

At least they're being honest. If commanders had been this honest back before the war, it might not have happened at all.

But to answer your question, plenty of people are willing to support a decade or more in Iraq. Whenever I'm in an online discussion of Iraq and someone says that we need to stay, I ask how long they're willing to stay. Many say that we should remain in Iraq as long as it takes, even if that's several decades.

The whole situation is a damned if you do / damned if you don't scenario. If we leave and the fledgling Iraqi government crumbles, then we have a scenario not different that what happened a couple decades ago when we rousted the Ruskies out of Afghanistan leaving that region ripe for the picking of Muslim radicals. And I think we know what that atmosphere of instability incubated. On the other hand, our continued presence only breeds more resentment and fuels the fires of anti-American sentiments in the region.

Do I have a solution? Unfortunately, no. What I do know is that pulling out abruptly with a shaky government in place is a bad idea. It is also very unpalatable to keep sending our troops and our resources into what is basically a thankless job.