Why can't we leave Iraq???

This is a little shot I took in the Catskills a couple of weeks ago. I went into Upstate NY and to Howe Caverns. The Catskills are amazing and so are the caverns. It's like driving back into a much simpler time.
Being here makes me introspective. Just standing out and looking at a vista like this helps me think.

I got to thinking about why we should pull out of Iraq. Actually I was listening to Rush Limbaugh the other day and he actually kicked off the thought process in my head. Here's the exact quote from Limbaugh:

"There's a lot more than that that they don't understand. They can't even -- if -- the next guy that calls here, I'm gonna ask him: Why should we pull -- what is the imperative for pulling out? What's in it for the United States to pull out? They can't -- I don't think they have an answer for that other than, "Well, we just gotta bring the troops home."

I am not a fan of Rush Limbaugh nor do I agree with anything that he says. Oh, scratch that, I do agree with him when he uses pronouns to address people like he or she or their. Other than that, I don't agree with him.

So let me give everyone some reasons to pull out of Iraq:

1) Since I've started writing this blog post we've (the American people) have spent $20,000 in Iraq. The total cost of the American spending in Iraq in the time it takes me to write this blog post should be just under $100k.
2) The total we've spent thus far is $455,468,606,530. It'll be more by the time I finish this post. Are you fiscal Republicans getting this? Maybe this isn't such a good idea? Maybe we should be spending this on our infrastructure or on schools or on healthcare for poor kids that GW wants to cut.
3) My community, my city is on the hook for roughly $245 million so far for the war. I guess those new firetrucks, police cars and school safety belts will have to wait!
4) American deaths and wounded in the war is 27936. I know it's rough but I don't like "rounding down" human beings.
5) We've paid mercenaries like Blackwater millions to fight this war without observing basics like the Geneva Convention. $320 million to Blackwater thus far. I forgot that the State Department does not have to live with and abide by the Constitution. Oh yes, I guess they do!
6) We've essentially walked all over the Geneva Convention Protocols (there are four of them). This means our military could lose these important treaties if they need to actually protect us from a real threat.
7) We've killed and hurt thousands of Iraqis. Does anyone really think they'll be happy about this in the long run? Or are we just creating more people that want to kill Americans?
8) We still haven't caught Osama Bin Laden.
9) We also need to get out of Afghanistan.
10) We do actually need to speak to some neighboring countries like Syria. They probably aren't going anywhere soon.

Those are my top ten or more likely just a few good reasons. The best reason is that we shouldn't be killing people, period. We also don't have a clear military mission (recipe for a disaster) and we don't have an exit strategy. I worry that Republicans are so blind, they actually don't want to deal with the moral reasons or the fiscal one's. I'm also confused by Republicans on this little concept: what kind of metric do they have for success?

It's was time to leave Iraq after the first day of the war.

Marc