Over the weekend, the AP reported that the "US is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline." Joel Wing says this is nonsense and that American troops will remain into 2012:
The fact that Iraq’s military is almost completely incapable of defending the country from foreign threats is the driving force behind their desire to keep some trainers past 2011. Current Iraqi plans, don’t have the security forces ready for that task until 2020, and even that might be too optimistic. In a region with yearly shelling and air strikes by Turkey and Iran, insurgents infiltrating from Syria, and Iran providing lethal support to Special Groups, a strong and competent military are a necessity to deter these countries from continuing their interference in a weak Iraq.
The Dish 