@Silverchild79,
It's been a couple years, but don't try to say something like things have changed, because they haven't. I also have friends there right now, soldiers I was there with before.
Your remark about terrorist wanting us to leave so they can take over...I, even though no don't have any transcripts for drnaline to analyze and prove factual, do not believe this is true. Sunnis want the new Iraqi government to fail more than their Iranian allies. That country is not America, and it doesn't seem like Americans can comprehend, or understand why they do what they do. There will NEVER be peace in a country that has two or more religious factions struggling for political and religious dominance. Concept that would just seem like common sense to us, are so alien there, and anyone that has been there, and dealt with the populace can tell you this, they do not get simply concepts of what we would call normal life. They wipe their asses with teh hand for christ sake. I was called the devil because I am lefthanded. HEre's a good one...one time we were doing a security detail, shortly after the elections. Well there's quite a few locals around and a fight breaks out. One of the Iraq police there with us shoots and kills a guy...no one really cared, the guys friend asks if he can have the dudes truck, and takes off in it, the cops load the body into the back of a truck, and drive off, nothing more was really said of it. It truely is a different world. The point being, we seem to think that our giant finacially backed penis is going to spread those mocha thighs and it's not, for the most part, they do not want us there, they may NEED us there, but want and need are not the same thing.
The biggest threat to Iraq succeeding is not "terrorist" from other countries, it's itself.