Zincy 
"[@HeadlessHorselessHorseman":](/generals/tartarus/post/4138623#post_4138623
)
We shouldn't have been there in the first place, yes.
But now that we are, we need to finish the job and not pull another Iraq.
To leave before the mission is finished is to open up a power vacuum in the region.
A gap that Russia, Iran, and ISIS will exploit.
Whether you like it or not, America_*does_* have a strategic reason to maintain a presence in the region. Limiting Russian influence, weakening and destroying ISIS, preventing the resurgence of other terror groups, reinforcing the Kurds and keeping them from butting heads with Turkey, cutting the flow of arms from Iran into the hands of Hezboala, and maintaining strength in an area of western trade.
None of those goals have been accomplished yet.
You'd think we'd of learned from the clusterfuck that was Iraq that cutting and running before the job is done is far, far worse than completing it.
If we just up and bolt in a month, the situation there will deteriorate, and it will hurt US and local conditions.
The world is more nuanced than you believe, and sometimes you need to look at things mechanistically. Fact of the matter is, America has a vested interest in maintaining strength in the region until such a time as it is no longer needed.
And yea, I'm a little biased toward American interests. We need to be keen to our own, and our allies. And Russia ain't one.
Get the job done first. Don't go in, blow shit up, and run. Rebuild, stabilize, and finish.
In Vino Veritas
We shouldn't have been there in the first place, yes.
But now that we are, we need to finish the job and not pull another Iraq.
To leave before the mission is finished is to open up a power vacuum in the region.
A gap that Russia, Iran, and ISIS will exploit.
Whether you like it or not, America
None of those goals have been accomplished yet.
You'd think we'd of learned from the clusterfuck that was Iraq that cutting and running before the job is done is far, far worse than completing it.
If we just up and bolt in a month, the situation there will deteriorate, and it will hurt US and local conditions.
The world is more nuanced than you believe, and sometimes you need to look at things mechanistically. Fact of the matter is, America has a vested interest in maintaining strength in the region until such a time as it is no longer needed.
And yea, I'm a little biased toward American interests. We need to be keen to our own, and our allies. And Russia ain't one.
Get the job done first. Don't go in, blow shit up, and run. Rebuild, stabilize, and finish.