The idea that none of the fanatical crap overseas will ever touch us in our own country has not panned out very well in the past.
Let's not forget the Taliban, currently slowly digesting Western Pakistan. Better hope there's a plan B for those nukes if--or is it when?--that government falls. Note that this nuclear program, and Iran's for that matter, predates both the war in Iraq and Bush's administration.
Do you believe that a real "war to protect the oil" is going to result in fewer American casualties than the current one?
How far down the road do you think we can kick this can? Iraq was "kicked down the road" once. How did that work out in the long run?
Withdrawal from Iraq will simply lead to a far worse conflict down the road. God save us from political leaders who believe that the primary goal of a war is simply to save your soldiers from harm, and make the shooting stop as soon as possible. Surrender is, of course, usually the quickest way to do this.
Raoul:
Why not for instance let democratically elected leaders impose jihad in Iraq and other countries (if that's their agenda) in the area and see what happens when they're left alone. Sooner or later, those countries will open to the world because it's the natural way of things. And they will do it faster if left on their own.
Every now and then, Raoul reaches heights of naivete that almost defy belief. He apparently believes that if you just leave the monsters alone, they'll all fade away. Would have been an interesting theory during WWII and the Cold War. Perhaps as part of the Third Reich, or as a Soviet satellite state, Belgium would have had its finest hour.