on pen-l i brought up a similar issue. i am not sure that the US army staying in iraq is a good thing, but i am not sure immediate withdrawal is better.
to address the less substantial issue first, i think those on the left who rally behind 'bring the troops back now' should take some trouble to describe why their position is different from that of those americans who are calling for the same, but doing so because their only concern is the lives of american soldiers.
second, some (not anyone particular on this list) proponents of "withdraw the troops" seem to use nothing but the reasoning that "since it was wrong to go in, it is imperative that we pull out". imho, the former does not necessarily lead to the conclusion. if we are to believe the multiple reports coming out of iraq, it seems that [despite abu ghraib] the iraqi people believe that in some [sad] sense the presence of american troops affords them some security.
i doubt that we will ever be able to convince our govt to pay reparations to the iraqis (at least in the short-term). would it be more feasible to keep the troops in iraq but channel their work to goals decided upon by iraqis?
--ravi