McCain likes to talk about winning and losing, but it not clear to me what that means. If we win, what do we win? If we lose, what do we lose? It seems to me that either way, we leave Iraq and return that country to its inhabitants. We don't win anything, unless you count the privilege to spend billions more on the occupation. We certainly don't get control of the Iraqi oil fields.

The sixteen months that Obama discusses would start in January. It means that the troops will be withdrawn in about 2 years from now. Any longer than that will cause a renewal of the attacks on the U.S. troops as occupiers. So this seems like the perfect timescale and the Iraqis seem to agree. After the troops are withdrawn, the Iraqis will have control of their own country. That sounds like a good goal to me.