Columns and Capitals

I think we’ve been so focused with domestic news that we’ve forgotten that the planet isn’t flat–that there is news all around the globe.

For example, I found a success story about Iraq. Anbar, a province in Iraq west of Bagdad, used to be the most lethal place for Americans. On Monday, the U.S. handed back control of a much more peaceful Anbar to the Iraqi Army and police force.

From the full New York Times story:

On Monday, following a parade on a freshly paved street, American commanders formally returned responsibility for keeping order in Anbar Province, once the heartland of the Sunni insurgency, to the Iraqi Army and police force. The ceremony capped one of the starkest turnabouts in the country since the war began five and a half years ago.

The US involvement in Iraq is a sticky issue. One that I’m not completely prepared to comment on yet. It is pretty obvious, however, that a lot of people are calling for a return of US troops–a retreat.

Australia’s prime minister is not one of those people calling for such retreat. It is interesting to see what he has to say:

“For the West to pull out of Iraq in circumstances seen as defeat, would deliver an enormous boost to terrorism in the region and around the world, and would be a huge blow to American prestige, and that would have bad consequences for Australia.

“I think we need a strategy that makes certain that we don’t leave behind an outcome that is a victory for the terrorists and we leave behind [an] Iraq that has an opportunity as surviving as a democratic nation.”

What do you think?  Obviously no one is calling for troops to be in Iraq forever, but what should the time frame be, and what do you think the global consequences will be for the time frame you suggest?