Taken from posts I left on scatter629's thread "What if we just left?"
If we just took off and abandoned them, Iraq would just fall apart. It would be a hell on Earth. Much worse than it is.
Everything we've tried to do in the last 3+ years, along with all the deaths and maimings, would be for absolutely nothing. Iraq, as bad as it is, would be a hundred times worse if we just dropped the ball and took off. Like it or not, we both set in place AND toppled Sadaam's government, and for just those reason, we're responsible for seeing the new, democratic one in place, and as stable as it can be, before we leave.
That's why we shouldn't leave.
Think there's a lot of death right now? We, at least, make an effort to observe the rules of war and use a little human consideration (which, in fact, is exactly why we're not doing so well). The barbarians who would come in after us and squabble over what we'd left behind wouldn't stoop that low. It would be a bloodbath.
The people we're fighting make no pretense of adhereing to any rules of conduct or decency. They consider it a virtue to use open deceit and treachery in dealing with infidels. They use ambush and surprise to attack and kill unarmed civilians and innocent children with the same gleeful, zealous, self-righteous attitude they use when they attack and kill armed soldiers. They wear no uniforms, they hide in and attack from crowds of innocent people and use supposedly-off-limits hospitals and mosques to hide and stow their weapons.
Why do they do all these things when we refrain from doing so?
Because Western (read: Christian-based) morality is vastly superior to their Islam-based morality. And there you have it. That right there is why we're having so much trouble. We willingly tie one arm behind our back and try to take the high road in dealing with them, while they have no problem at all fighting with two arms, and with taking the low road in doing so.
What we have to learn is how to deal with barbarians such as those we face. Though I, on general principal, support Saddam's removal, I have to admit that he seems to have had the right idea in his methods of keeping the peace.
Put a boot on their necks and a gun to their foreheads. Let the military do their job; break things and kill people.....just as they do no less in dealing with us. Sometimes, to defeat the monster, you have to become the monster.
And that's how we'll win this war, if we're so willing.