As American influence in Iraq has ebbed to its lowest point in years, and with Iraq in political turmoil, the Obama administration recently announced large reductions to the size and scope of its mission in a country less willing to accept a significant American footprint.
These include plans to slash the huge diplomatic presence it had envisioned for Iraq by one-third, drastically pare down a highly-touted but deeply unpopular police training program and close its consulate in Kirkuk.
We refused to discuss a real post-2011 military presence of at least 20,000 troops, thus getting the Iraqis to refuse our president's offer of a few thousand hostages unable to influence events in Iraq.
Left largely on their own to resist Iran and resist internal sectarian rivalries, the Iraqis worry more about Iran and internal political foes. So they distance themselves from our residual presence.
And that self-preservation distance gives our administration--and allies in the Senate--an excuse to reduce our already too small presence even further.
Iraq may succeed despite our lack of interest in defending what we gained, but it is disheartening to see that "responsibly ending" the war simply means wishing the Iraqis good luck and have a nice life.
Maybe if Prime Minister Maliki releases a few more years of tax returns, he can get some interest from this White House.
