What’s Next?

Recently I was reading an article from the Chicago Tribune titled “Obama sets Iraq timeline.” Julian E. Barnes, the author discussed President Barack Obama’s plans for the future. Obama has stated the procedures that he wants to take to retrieve the U.S. troops from Iraq. He has created a timeline that expects the number of U.S. troops to decrease from currently 142,000 to 35,000-50,000 by August 31, 2010. He also confirmed that all the U.S. forces are scheduled to be out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. There have been many mixed feelings about Obama’s troop timeline. Many are expressing that they believe that 35,000-50,000 is too large of a group to remain in Iraq. Furthermore, many of the Sunni lawmakers are upset over the departure of the forces, who are seen as “a buffer against Shiite persecution.”

Do you think that it is a good idea to leave troops in Iraq to “advise Iraqis, protect civilians and conduct counterterrorism missions?”
Do you believe that August 31, 2010 is a reasonable date for the Iraq combat mission to end? And is December 31, 2011 a reasonable date to have all forces out of Iraq?