Quick: How long has the United States been militarily involved in Iraq?
The U.S. invasion of Iraq began in 2003 — eight years ago.
Do you remember why?
We feared that Saddam Hussein — who had previously used weapons of mass destruction on his own people — might have or be working on developing nuclear weapons.
Well, Saddam is gone. We found no nukes in Iran. But U.S. forces are still there, in 2011.
We now have about 42,500 American troops in Iraq, not quite half the number who were there at the beginning of this year.
So, when will we be able to get all American troops out of Iraq — without inviting serious consequences from terrorists or other ill-intended people who would like to seize power in Iraq?
Dec. 31 is our official withdrawal date, though U.S. officials have wanted to keep some kind of presence beyond that date for stability purposes. Iraq has made it clear, however, that it will not grant legal immunity to military forces who stay past the deadline, so U.S. military trainers are not expected to remain in 2012.
Ready or not, Iraq is about to spread its wings and — we hope — fly.