Will U.S. Plans To Withdraw From Iraq Hit The Skids?

CHINOOK LOOK
U.S. soldiers look over their CH-47 Chinook before an aircraft turnover mission on Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2009. The soldiers are assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 214th Aviation Regiment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Murray

Obama's Troop-Withdrawal Plans Could Suddenly Turn Into a Mirage -- Wall Street Journal

The clock is ticking on the end of U.S. combat missions in Iraq. But with a fortnight to go until that deadline, violence is escalating again. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed at least 46 Iraqis, and injured more than 60, in a queue outside a recruiting center for the Iraqi army. Al Qaeda, or groups inspired by its leader Osama bin Laden, are being blamed.

The rise in the number of bombings and murders by extremists in Iraq in recent months hasn't attracted quite as much attention as it should have. It cuts across what has been for some time a widely accepted version of events that runs as follows: The famous "surge" of U.S. troops cleared the way for huge improvements in the situation on the ground (which it did). Responsibility is now being handed over to the Iraqi army and security services. While that hand-over will not be without its difficulties, the direction of travel is the right one.

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My Comment: I have always been a critic of an early withdrawal from Iraq. Such conflicts take years to calm down and for most animosities to go away .... and even then there will always be a need for a 'foreign military presence' to stabilize the situation from getting worse. But to leave at a time in which Iraqi politics is still immature, and the security situation still volatile with outside forces trying their best to influence the situation to their advantage .... I must confess that I am uncomfortable that all that we are doing is laying the groundwork for our return in the not so distant future.