For once I agree: you cannot just walk away from Iraq because it got too hot to handle.-This is exactly what Colin Powell warned Bush about in the famous “Pottery Barn” rule. You broke it, now you own own. Walking out of Iraq will destroy US credibility for decades. The US may remain armed to the teeth, but its ability to act as an effective superpower will have been (has already been?) cut to ribbons. I was against the war, and continue to think it was the greatest blunder of any power in my life time, but given the situation I am equally against pulling out like disorganised rabble. Retreat from Iraq will, in the long run, bring nothing but trouble for all concerned. The goal must be not an ephemeral military victory but the establishment of Peace, Order and Good Government- and right now, however paradoxically, that means boots on the ground.

The Pottery barn Rule (as lifted from Wikipedia)
“According to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cited the rule in the summer of 2002 when warning President George W. Bush of the consequences of military action in Iraq: 'You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people,' he told the president. 'You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You'll own it all.' Privately, Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called this the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it.Powell confirmed the quotation on Jonathan Dimbleby’s "Dimbleby" program on April30, 2006”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottery_Barn_rule