As Violence Continues in Iraq, Plan to Bring Home Troops Put on Hold

The Houston Chronicle reports that plans to reduce the 127,000 American military personnel in Iraq have been put on hold. Saddam Hussein has been ousted. Why are we still occupying the country when we're clearly not welcome? Our presence begets resistance. Even the Iraqi speaker of parliament is calling us occupiers: "if we punish a person who killed an American soldier, who is an occupier, we should punish the American soldiers who killed an Iraqi who fought against occupation." It's time to set a time-table for withdrawal so as to let the Iraqis know that we have no long-term plans there (or do we, Mr. Lieberman?). Even democrats like Barak Obama and Harry Reid have admitted that our presence is fueling the insurgency.