Let's Go

US troops are down to pre-surge levels. Maliki is making sounds about getting US troops out of Iraq. With the insurgency basically broken and the government seeming to function...getting outta there seems like a good possibility.

I'm open to arguments in favor of a limited US troop presence in Iraq similar to the troops we have in Germany, Japan, or Korea. Obviously, this would need to come with the consent of the Iraqi government. But if the Iraqi government thinks they can handle things on their own and think the US troops will only encourage more insurrection and violence (at this point), then shucks, we should leave and spend our dough developing wind power.

Why aren't liberals celebrating? Isn't this the moment they've been waiting for? And yet, no one seems very excited about it. They were way more excited about anti-war protests and the Iraq Study Group.

The problem has always been: liberals (on a whole, not all) were more concerned with humiliating Bush than seeing Iraq succeed. In fact - they got invested as using Iraq as the means to humiliate Bush. I always thought this was a bad position to get into, much as I'm not a Bush fan myself.

It commonly assumed Bush is going down as one of the worst Presidents in modern history. I won't assess this claim...but only say that his presidency will be considered historical significant (for good or ill) moreso than Clinton, his father, Carter, and probably the next President or two.