It has been my belief that we won't truly know if the surge in Iraq was successful until those troops come home. We know the results our troops can bring while they are there, but can these achievements be maintained once we leave? If we pull the troops out and the Iraqis keep things in check, only then will we know that the surge was successful. If we pull the troops out and all hell breaks loose, only then will we know that the surge was a failure. All this political posturing about the results of the surge are ridiculous. Enough troops are coming home that we should be able to gauge the success of the surge. It seems doubtful that we would be able to increase the number of troops that are already scheduled to come home anyway. Like it or not, there is going to have to be a period of time after this round of troops come home to see what happens. We've already had the surge, we may as well see the results from it. The politicians should quit bickering and start preparing for the next move once it can be determined whether or not the surge was successful.

There are only two possibilities, either the surge worked or it didn't. I think the politicians should have a plan to deal with either scenario. If the surge worked and the Iraqis can handle things, there should be a plan in place to bring more troops home. If the surge didn't work and all hell breaks loose, then there should be a plan to deal with that. Do we send more troops or do we finally say that's it? As usual, the politicians will not have a plan and will waste more time bickering when the time comes. Maybe if they had planned ahead before this war began, we wouldn't find ourselves in the mess we see today.