Is the "mission accomplished" yet?

Last week was the fifth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq. The war has turned out to be the single most divisive issue in the nation today, as well as the frontrunner for “thing President George W. Bush will be most remembered for.” The war’s importance cannot be understated, from the misery and bravery of soldiers and their families, to the effects on politics and social relations at home, to the effects on America’s image abroad.\nIt has been a significant issue in the presidential races, though not nearly as central as it was in the 2006 midterm elections. All of the candidates have had to make strong statements about how they will handle Iraq — Sen. Hillary Clinton originally voted for the war but has since come to the new party line of opposition; Sen. Barack Obama uses his constant opposition to the war as an anti-Clinton weapon, claiming he has better judgment; Sen. John McCain has said that the war is winnable, and he’s willing to stay as long as it takes to do so, and, while we’re at it, we might as well bomb Iran.\nConsidering the American people were told that this would be a relatively short conflict, and that we were told that the mission was accomplished in May 2003, it seems that the fifth anniversary of the war is as good a time as any to discuss an exit plan. Discussing this before the war started would have been good, too, but it’s a bit late for that now. \nIf one allows cable news to dictate the truth of public opinion, it would seem that there are two basic opinions among Americans about how the Iraq war should end. Half of the nation would believes we should pull all troops out of Iraq immediately, no matter what happens as a consequence of that. The other half believes that our troops should stay in the Middle East until Iraq is a responsible constitutional democracy and can join NATO.\nI’m going to give the American people more credit than I usually do — which is a decision I will regret the next time I hear “‘Two and a Half Men’: America’s number one comedy!” in a commercial.\nI don’t think most people really believe either course of action is smart or responsible, or that either one could possibly work out for the well-being of anyone involved.\nIf U.S. troops were to leave Iraq tomorrow, it’s highly likely — as much as it pains me to say this — that the small amount of order our fighting men and women have died for would evaporate, and Iraq would be worse than it was under Saddam Hussein. On the other hand, with so much of our fighting force mired in Iraq, it can’t be used for other things. The war, or at least our involvement in it, has to end eventually. A responsible, measured pulling-out of forces will be needed.\nFive years hasn’t been enough to accomplish the mission in Iraq. And for the sake of our troops, I hope it won’t take another five.