What are the options for the US in Iraq? Three main ones have reared their heads in recent days. They are:

1) Go Big: Flood the country with many more thousands of soldiers in an attempt to place a cap on sectarian violence and instill order within a comparatively short time-frame.

2) Go Long: Essentially "Stay The Course". This has had spectacular results so far, and maybe we should stick with it, perhaps? This involves focusing more than we are now on training up Iraqi troops, putting pressure on the local authorities to control militias and a very gradual troop withdrawal.

3) Go Home - US troops fuck off, leaving those, uhm, ungrateful Iraqi bastards to do whatever the hell they want, no skin off our nose - except the hundreds of billions of dollars we've put into the place, of course. An immediate withdrawal is not an option at all, but a phased one beginning as early as summer 2007 could be on the cards.

So, what gets your vote, team?