abrupt wasn't the problem. we left iraq precisely according to the terms of the STATFOR agreement, which was negotiated and signed by the bushies. "comprehensive" was the problem; they all left. basing rights are simple, and they are effective, and they are safe.
just having 10,000 or 15,000 soldiers in the neighborhood would have kept the whack jobs in their cages.
Romney knocks Obama for ‘abrupt withdrawal’ of troops from IraqMitt Romney on Monday attacked President Obama for an "abrupt withdrawal" of troops from Iraq, arguing in a major foreign policy address that U.S. gains in the country are being eroded.
Romney said progress made by U.S. troops is being lost by a weakening democracy in the country, a resurgent al Qaeda and the rising influence of Iran there since U.S. troops left last year.
"America’s ability to influence events for the better in Iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence,” Romney said in his foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. “The president tried — and failed — to secure a responsible and gradual drawdown that would have better secured our gains.”
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U.S. troops left at the end of 2011 under the terms of an agreement signed by President George W. Bush. And Democrats point out that al-Maliki refused to give U.S. troops immunity in Iraqi courts, effectively killing any chance of renewing the deal.
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