With the announcement of combat troop withdrawals from Iraq over the next 19 months, many are musing about what we accomplished there, and what will be the legacy of the Iraq war. A painful question - and one that has a great potential for controversy - is asking whether we "won" or "lost" the Iraq War.



Endy Bayuni gets into this difficult topic in a piece called American Humiliation After Iraq:

The real question to ask is not whether the United States should send the soldiers back if ethnic strife returns in Iraq. The problem of Iraq is for the Iraqis to solve, and for its immediate neighbors to help. Unless Americans are still thinking of controlling Iraq's oil, they really have no business meddling in Iraqi politics.

The real question that Americans and their leaders should be asking themselves is whether they can live with the legacy of another war defeat and the humiliation that comes with it. This is something that Americans alone can answer.

They can take comfort that after the Vietnam defeat, the United States remained a global power, and its standing in Southeast Asia did not suffer after the 1970s. Its interests in the region were actually better served through its "soft powers" - from trade, investment and foreign aid to American pop culture.

If nothing else, a significant sign of broad support for the Obama administration's combat troop withdrawal plan is the support of top military commanders:

America's top military leaders say they back President Barack Obama's plan to drawdown U.S. forces in Iraq. They indicated in broadcast interviews they are fairly confident the plan will move forward on schedule.

After extensive consultations with defense officials, the president went before members of the military Friday to announce his plan to end the war in Iraq.

"By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," said Mr. Obama.

Roughly two-thirds of the 142,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq will come home. The remainder, 35 to 50,000, will stay behind as a transition force. In time, they too will leave.

And in certainly an important relationship to monitor in looking at the future of Iraq, the Iranian president is in Iraq to meet with Iraqi leaders:

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is in Iraq for talks on boosting political, religious and economic ties.

Mr. Rafsanjani, who heads the influential Expediency Council, arrived Monday in Baghdad and met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Mr. Talabani was in Iran last week, as the two former foes rebuild their ties following the ouster of Iranian arch-rival, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Talabani was seeking Iranian investment in his country, devastated in the years since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

With the announcement of combat troop withdrawals from Iraq over the next 19 months, many are musing about what we accomplished there, and what will be the legacy of the Iraq war. A painful question - and one that has a great potential for controversy - is asking whether we "won" or "lost" the Iraq War.



Endy Bayuni gets into this difficult topic in a piece called American Humiliation After Iraq:

The real question to ask is not whether the United States should send the soldiers back if ethnic strife returns in Iraq. The problem of Iraq is for the Iraqis to solve, and for its immediate neighbors to help. Unless Americans are still thinking of controlling Iraq's oil, they really have no business meddling in Iraqi politics.

The real question that Americans and their leaders should be asking themselves is whether they can live with the legacy of another war defeat and the humiliation that comes with it. This is something that Americans alone can answer.

They can take comfort that after the Vietnam defeat, the United States remained a global power, and its standing in Southeast Asia did not suffer after the 1970s. Its interests in the region were actually better served through its "soft powers" - from trade, investment and foreign aid to American pop culture.

If nothing else, a significant sign of broad support for the Obama administration's combat troop withdrawal plan is the support of top military commanders:

America's top military leaders say they back President Barack Obama's plan to drawdown U.S. forces in Iraq. They indicated in broadcast interviews they are fairly confident the plan will move forward on schedule.

After extensive consultations with defense officials, the president went before members of the military Friday to announce his plan to end the war in Iraq.

"By August 31st, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," said Mr. Obama.

Roughly two-thirds of the 142,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq will come home. The remainder, 35 to 50,000, will stay behind as a transition force. In time, they too will leave.

And in certainly an important relationship to monitor in looking at the future of Iraq, the Iranian president is in Iraq to meet with Iraqi leaders:

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is in Iraq for talks on boosting political, religious and economic ties.

Mr. Rafsanjani, who heads the influential Expediency Council, arrived Monday in Baghdad and met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Mr. Talabani was in Iran last week, as the two former foes rebuild their ties following the ouster of Iranian arch-rival, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Talabani was seeking Iranian investment in his country, devastated in the years since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.