Where do you think our nation is headed in the next 5 years with this iraq situation?
103360
Down the drain, we will still be there 5 years from now, still being bombed and nobody will blame Geroge Bush. He will proclaim the war powers extended patriot act, and remain president till he declairs the president for life proclomation. Ar which time he will assume total power of both houses. and will start to kill democrats for not beleiving in him almighty, as given him by God. Does that answer your question. Oh by the way by that time Iran will be the 52 state and Korea will be a territory.
193511
I believe we are starting to see signs of a determined effort on the part of the US administration to give the fledgling Iraqi government a timetable to deal with, in terms of the US reducing its troop strength. This is happening for a number of reasons.  1) The American people have had quite enough of the pace of this war and our inability to stop the senseless killings of our troops, by these devil worshiping bastards the media calls, insurgents.\n2) We need to free ourselves up from this circle jerk before the next one starts.\nWe may not see a complete troop withdrawal for a long time, but we may be able to pull our guys back or out of harms way so they are no longer practice fodder for the bad guys.  Remember, the bad guys don't want to see us go, they want to keep us there putting out fires, but hopefully we can see that and not allow ourselves to play into it.
171943
the future for iraq, judging from the size of the bases that have been built by the US, and the money being sunk into the place by both private and public entities (much of which, of course, is being stolen by greedy american contractors), is as an embattled base for corporations that wish to access the oil there. \n\nthe people will be caught in the middle of a growing insurgency (drawing fighters from all over the Middle East, who will rightly see this as an infraction of sovereignty) and the big money of US-backed interests who will hang on (even after the troops go, there will be private contractors as long as there is money to pay them or the interest in being there). \n\nif we're lucky (and i do mean all of us), Iraq will not be the central battlefield of WWIII. but i'm not optimistic.
932378
Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to keep Iraq together now that sectarian violence has taken over the country. Iran is clearly helping the Shiite militias with resources as they are supporting Hezbolla in Lebanon. Like it or not we should be talking with the Iranians about this and other things. However even Sadr has lost control of the militias. There's just an ineveitable bottom that has to be hit before this thing wears out. I remember a similar situation in South Viet Nam. The South was corrupt and it's army unable to stand up to the North. As soon as we left it all fell apart. Iraq was a creation of the west. Rival ethnic groups held down by a merciless dictator. Bush and his advisors completely underestimated the divisons in that country. Sadam was like a cork in the bottle. Maybe an international force of non-western nations might be able to restore order but it would take hundreds of thousands more than we have there now. The current prime minister has to go and the interior ministry needs to be purged of the criminals and assassins using their positions to carry out personal vendettas. Twice in my lifetime the bright boys in Washington have tried this and twice they've failed. My Dick Cheney and his like will finally stop trying to refight the Viet Nam war.
1055753
This is the beginning of the drawdown. It will take a few years at least. Unlike Vietnam, we have never increased our numbers of troops in-country. We have made enormous strides but we need more Iraqis trained as soldiers and police before we can beging a major pull-out.
927284
I will be very honest with you. I do not know what will happen-I don't even know their plan. I do know that I do not like the way things are going now in Iraq, with our border and port security, with general fear mongering, with the "family values" the Reps have been shoving down my throat for the past several years, the dirty politics, the gas price fluctuations right before elections, and the "stay the course" mentality. All of these things caused me to vote for somebody different. The Reps' have had 5 years of practically absolute control over all 3 branches of government, and I believe a change is in order. I am very happy with the results of last night's elections.
140027
about 12-19% over the next 5 years
830365
When we pulled out  last time, we left a functioning government intact.  In this instance, we would be leaving a power vacuum that Iran could fill with their own brand of Muslim extremism.\n\nWe'll stick around for another 6 months and begin to draw down gradually while giving the Iraqi security forces achievable, but hard benchmarks.  We'll do the best we can to support them, but the relationship will look more like S. Korea than Puerto Rico.
383961
No, our nation is currently building several permanent bases in Iraq.  We won't be out of there for a long time
932237
No one can control the violence in Iraq now; that is what a lot of intelligent people have been warning Bush about since before the invasion.\nOur country is 200 years old. Iraq is 5000 years old. If any country invaded the US, don't you think we'd do WHATEVER it took to get them out??\nBush is going to come back to Washington without a plan, and then he'll finally realize he's not really important anymore. Just a lame duck who lost control of America, and he'll spend the rest of his presidency in the shadows, a once arrogant warhawk now meek and subdued by the magnitude of his ineptitude.
1038941
I recently received an email from a friend in Iraq who said that it's a completely different atmosphere where "70% of people want us here and know we need to be here, 5% don't want us here (the insurgents), and 20% are rich enough they don't have to care.  The US is crying for us to leave and push the Iraqi's to "run" when they're hardly able to crawl on their own..."\n\nI think regardless of elections, etc we need to be there at least another 3 years.  \n\nHow long do I THINK we'll be there?  I dunno, the "War" in Iraq is technically over, but the "War on Terrorism" should never cease...
1080271
The US won't leave Iraq anytime soon. I see them there 50 years from now.
843423
Regardless of when the troops are withdrawn, there will probably be a Civil War. The present government that came into power with US help and backing realize this, hence they want the US to remain to secure their hold. The nation will probably end up with a strongman style dictatorship, like Saddam's but will be friendly to the US, at first anyway. However,I do not believe, the US is in there for oil, and definately not to win the "Hearts & Minds" of the Iraqies. They are mainly concerned about the 14 military bases being built, which will put the US & her client state, Israel within striking distance of all Arab & Persian territory. Although, I think your suggestion about letting the Iraqi people decide will fall on very deaf ears. If there was honesty involved about the war, I would think your idea would be the best way to let go of the tiger's tail...BUT??????????
853644
It's hard to say.  I tend to feel it will be a rubber stamp government for a Sectarian leadership, much like IRan is.\n\nThere will probalby be oppression, probablky against the minority Sunni and no one will truly know if it for there won't be a free press nor free access for outside press.\n\nThe government will probablly be anti-American.  Possibly in bed with IRan.\n\nWe will probably regret removing Saddam from power.\n\nDemocracy is not working now and will not be working in 3 years.  The Militia leaders will probably control the government\n\nThere probably won't be much of a say for women in government either.
1018754
Badly, very badly.\n\nAll three sides, the Sunnis, Kurds and Shi'ites will fight like dogs, and eventually the United States will not be able to stop it. Those Iraqi troops we trained will also come back to haunt us too. This is a bad situation, and all the weapons in the US arsenal will not be able to solve it.\n\nOn the upside, I think it would have happened one way or the other, contrary to liberal public opinion....sad situation, time for us to leave!
710993
The UK has already begun the retreat. I expect Australia and others to follow. We are too deeply entrenched to do exactly that very quickly. Democrats know this. We are likely the ones who will remain behind to help Iraq. \nThere are much deeper reasons aside from democracy for Maliki's call to remain in Iraq indefinitely. There are ties between Iraqi leadership begging us to stay, Saddam's death sentence, and Don Rumsfeld's resignation yesterday. Maybe something on the scale of Watergate from the Nixon era.
413712
none if they're smart. we already pissed off the rest of the world with iraq