The latest excuse for our permanent presence in Iraq is: Hey, we still have troops in Germany and Japan. John McCain picked this up and the YouTube video is going viral.
Now, almost everybody sees one significant distinction: we defeated Germany and Japan in a war they started, while we invaded Iraq on the basis of highly nebulous threats of WMD plus the infamous Goldberg/Ledeen Doctrine. What sometimes get missed is that from early 1949 on (that is, in less time than we've been in Iraq), West Germany and Japan were de facto self-governing and democratic, and our troops’ primary mission, as now, was external defense, replacing the Wehrmacht and Imperial Japanese Army, which for obvious reasons were not reconstituted.
This doesn't mean our troops in Iraq aren't like troops in Germany, though. On the McCain/neocon view, our troops are to mimic the Soviet troops in East Germany. Huge bases and military presence loathed by the populace? Check. Put down puppet government opponents? Check. Protect natural resources needed by occupying country? Check. Internal police duties? Check. Menace neighboring states? Check and double-check.
So let's credit McCain for some his retro vision—our very own Warsaw Pact and Iraqi Democratic Republic. It all turned out so well for the USSR, after all.