Two of the main arguments I've heard for keeping a large military presence in Iraq are preventing a civil war and preventing a regional war.
Fortunately for the warmongers, they've been able to hide the fact that both are going on as we speak.
The drop in violence recently is a combination of three things: al Sadr's ceasefire, it only seems like a big drop because of how bad things got during the surge, and many Iraqi towns and neighborhoods have already become ethnically cleansed. Meaning that our presence did not prevent a civil war.
Then there's this little gem today. This isn't the first time the Turks have ventured into northern Iraq. Regardless of the truth, the US government is accusing Iran of fighting a proxy war against the US by supplying training and weapons. It has also been estimated that 40% of foreign fighters in Iraq came from Saudi Arabia. Our presence is not preventing a regional war either.
So can we please cut the bullshit and just admit that we're not preventing anything - we just have front row seats?