Even if, as seems likely, several thousand soldiers remain, the number will be small and their role limited to advising and training Iraqi military and police forces and conducting missions against terrorists. Eight years, 4,300 lost American lives, and more than a trillion dollars later, it will be, for better or worse, mostly Iraqis who determine their country’s future.
即便会有数千名士兵留守，但他们的数量已经非常少，所扮演的角色也只限于提供顾问意见，训练伊拉克军警以及执行反恐任务。在历时八年，4300名美国人丧命并耗费了1万亿美元之后，不论情况是好是坏，都应该是由伊拉克人决定自己国家未来的时候了。