Quote:
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Originally Posted by SacTown Chronic
"Any military presence, should it be necessary, will be temporary and intended to promote security and elimination of weapons of mass destruction; the delivery of humanitarian aid; and the conditions for the reconstruction of Iraq."
- The White House,
March 16, 2003, Statement
of the Atlantic Summit
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Oh, I didn't say everything was going exceptionally well and as planned. I certainly wish that the Iraqi security forces were larger at this point. But what is the definition of temporary? I suppose if I were one of the soldiers absent from my family two years would seem beyond temporary. In the big picture, though, two years doesn't seem that long. I understand a couple of years at least will still require our presence, though I believe that we will certainly begin troop reduction there soon.
Our commitment in Bosnia was supposed to be less than a year. Korea - approaching 50 years there (though I really do not know the circumstances surrounding the cease fire there and our continued military presence). We've stayed in Europe for 60 years now post WWII (due to some bungling, I believe, from FDR and Churchill when dealing with Stalin).
The major mistake made in Iraq (and I understand many think the major mistake was going at all) was underestimating the number of foreign terrorists that would come in from Syria, Iran, wherever.