An Iraqi General Wants Us to Stay and Probably For Good Reason

Gen Zabari, the commander of the Iraq military has apparently said that he would like the United States to maintain a military presence in his country until 2020. Is it possible that this man knows damn good and well what will happen once Western combat troops leave? I have said before that when we leave Iraq that the butchery will begin in earnest. Iran will most likely attempt to step in to "stabilize" the region with the resulting consequence of her becoming more dangerous and powerful than she already is. Whether our decision to move into Iraq was correct or not, I will not go into here. Suffice to say that in order to maintain a regional balance of power, prevent genocidal butchery, and to safeguard our "allies" (really our energy supply) in the region it is hard not to see his point and perhaps take his words seriously. Nation building, particularly in that region, is a long term commitment. To prevent genocide, perhaps we ought to consider this man's words. While I certainly do not want to keep troops in harms way any longer than necessary, our country, like it or not has become the "balancer" (if you will) of power in the region. Perhaps our leadership should have considered the consequences of our actions a bit more carefully. While I am certainly no fan of nation building - it is apparent that we will need to remain in the region for some time to safeguard our interests.