US troops leave urban areas in Iraq

[Hooahguy]

the story (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31611805/ns/world_news-conflict_in_iraq)

Iraqi forces assume formal control of Baghdad and other cities on Tuesday after American troops hand over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country.

this is great! finally, iraqis are assuming control. but i cant help but wonder how long this will last.

[Hooahguy]

you would think that orgahs would be all over this, but i guess not.

[Pannonian]

you would think that orgahs would be all over this, but i guess not.
The US are going to leave Iraq sooner or later, that was always going to be the case. Far more important and relevant to the Iraq issue are the things on the periphery, and they haven't changed. The Iraq issue was always what would happen with the surrounding countries after the US withdraws? Unless Iran, Turkey, Saudi and Syria all support an independent Iraq free from their influence, or unless an Iraq appears which is strong enough to ward off any attempted political incursions, the most relevant questions will still not yet have been satisfactorily answered.

[LittleGrizzly]

Intresting info Gel, good post!

In your opinion was the idea unworkable from the start ? was iot the beginning phase of the occupation being horribly handled that messed it up ? or is it the fact the military had to pull out because of political pressure at home ?

Or maybe some combanation of these factors... ?

For a number of reasons i was against the war (no need to go through that again though) but after we 'broke it' i felt we had an obligation to 'fix it'. Am i maybe too focused on what was the right thing to do and fixing it is not really a practical option ?

Or could we have maybe with big sacrifices have made it work ?

Very sorry to hear about your foot btw, hope it heals as much as possible!