Iraq May Request and Need US Troops for 10 yrs

Once President Bush leaves office, will we have a less polarizing national discourse about the future of Iraq? Will we have a discussion about whether an occupying force, turned requested guest can stabilize a post-war region economically and politically as has been successfully modeled in Germany, Japan, Korea and Kosovo? Is that a politically viable role for the US military in Iraq? Given the resulting power-vacuum that a US withdrawal would present, is there any other choice?

We at SoldierWish are not afraid to ask tougher questions that directly impact the service and engagements of our military. Frankly speaking, "With a new administration, what will the course in Iraq be?"

Certainly the complex reality of the international diplomacy and the stabilizing weight of the American Global presence will dramatically soften Mr. Obama's "we must leave now" campaign season promises and declarations.

As one who has blogged repeatedly about my love for the Iraqi people, and the honor in serving in establishing their infant democracy, I personally welcome the stabilizing, and hopeful story that an Iraqi official acknowledges that a US presence could be needed for at least 10 years.

I know this sentiment flies in the face of current popular and accepted political discourse in the US, but I feel a stable, increasingly democratized Middle East, should be at the top of any administration's foreign policy. And the surest way to guarantee that is with the requested presence of the United States military, along side our Iraqi counterparts in training and patrolling. Just as the Japan and Germany model proved to be.

Jared Still