I know, I know. We’ve been waging the war for seven years and the country is tired of reading about the latest American battlefield casualties. But I’m concerned that all of the sacrifice will have been for naught if the situation begins to deteriorate, violence flares, and the democratic process breaks down because we should have stayed another few weeks.

First of all, reports from the ground. We keep hearing about how Iraqis want us out but that’s simply not the case. In fact, a recent poll found that nearly 60% of Iraqis think the American withdrawal is premature. You can find quotes from nervous Iraqi citizens in this AP report. They’re concerned all hell will break loose once Americans withdraw.

Second, Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institute, actually a left-leaning organization, says Obama should have waited until the recent election has been settled before withdrawing the remaining combat troops. The new government still hasn’t taken power and it’s not entirely clear that the present government will leave.

Look, I’m not calling for perpetual war, and I certainly don’t want to lose anymore brave men and women. I sympathize with Americans who are tired of this battle, and none of what I’m saying actually matters because the president isn’t going to order troops into battle while looking at polls like we’ve seen as of late.

I just hope we don’t regret the decision to withdraw years down the road. I don’t want to live with the fact that more than 4,000 Americans died in vain because Iraq collapsed into chaos, or that we could have saved the situation if only we had stayed a few more weeks. I don’t want this to become an historical example of a battlefield blunder. That’s all.