Should We Stay or Should We Go?

Warning: Dramatic Graphic Violence

The clip above is an advertisement that airs on Al-Arabiya TV denouncing Sunni-Shiite Terrorism in Iraq.

There was a New York Times editorial recently, The Road Home, that rattled my sense of logic and common sense. The premise of the article is that it is time for the United States to leave Iraq. This is the some of the usual rhetoric that is heard in most news coverage, but then the article goes into what happens if the US were to leave:

That conversation must be candid and focused. Americans must be clear that Iraq, and the region around it, could be even bloodier and more chaotic after Americans leave. There could be reprisals against those who worked with American forces, further ethnic cleansing, even genocide. Potentially destabilizing refugee flows could hit Jordan and Syria. Iran and Turkey could be tempted to make power grabs. Perhaps most important, the invasion has created a new stronghold from which terrorist activity could proliferate.

I agree with the analysis above, no argument there. But then the article goes on to say:

But Americans must be equally honest about the fact that keeping troops in Iraq will only make things worse. The nation needs a serious discussion, now, about how to accomplish a withdrawal and meet some of the big challenges that will arise.

In other words, if the US stays it will get "worse." If the US leaves, Iraq will become a bloodier, more chaotic stronghold of terrorism and genocide which will probably devolve into a regional war. How is staying in Iraq "worse" than latter option? This doesn't make sense, if anything this should be an argument for why we SHOULD stay.

What is most interesting is the fact that people recognize that pulling troops from Iraq can lead to ethnic cleansing or genocide, but believe US should leave anyways. Yet, many of the same people turn around and say the US should intervene and stop the genocide in Darfur (the Democratic Debate anyone?). I agree the US (the help of NATO and the UN would be great too) should intervene in Darfur, but why shouldn't the US also stay and prevent a future Darfur-like situation in Iraq?