A Republic, If You Can Keep It

Then: TF 3-15 conducts a “Thunder Run” into the heart of Baghdad:

Now: 4th Stryker BCT, 2nd Infantry Division, conducts a mostly simple (still watching for those IEDs) road march out of Baghdad, headed home:

The 4th SBCT is the last combat brigade to leave theater. Photo by Sgt. Kimberly Johnson

Yes, there’s still tens of thousands of US troops in Iraq, and literally boatloads of stuff to bring home or turn over to the Iraqi government. And too many people dying because of bombs.

Nonetheless…

A Republic, if you can keep it.

Aye. Keeping it. There’s the rub, eh? Still and all – it has to come from them, from within, if they are truly going to be able to keep it. We just gave them the chance, and the choice.

And have no doubt – it will be *theirs*, not ours. And it won’t look like ours, and we’d be foolish to expect it to.