While on some objective level, there might be some advantages (For officers who need a combat tour on their resume) to a continued US presence in Iraq, the Iraqis loath the Americans, both the military, and (in particular) the mercenaries private military contractors.

So it comes as no surprise that the Iraqis have refused to extend immunity to the military and has additionally refused to allow US bases to remain in country:

The US suffered a major diplomatic and military rebuff on Friday when Iraq finally rejected its pleas to maintain bases in the country beyond this year.

Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of December, a decision forced by the final collapse of lengthy talks between the US and the Iraqi government on the issue.

The Iraqi decision is a boost to Iran, which has close ties with many members of the Iraqi government and which had been battling against the establishment of permanent American bases.

Obama attempted to make the most of it by presenting the withdrawal as the fulfilment of one of his election promises.

“Today I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over,” he told reporters.

But he had already announced this earlier this year, and the real significance today was in the failure of Obama, in spite of the cost to the US in dollars and deaths, to persuade the Iraqi president Nouri al-Maliki to allow one or more American bases to be kept in the country.

Obama was doing his damnedest to try to make his promise to leave Iraq a promise in name only, but the Iraqis are having none of it.

Like I said, to the degree to which Obama claims to oppose “stupid wars”, he refuses to believe that any war can be stupid.

Just as as a note, Bush’s invasion of Iraq is the just the gift that keeps on giving.