hard to imagine that we are still in this quagmire

Number of troops in Iraq reaches highest level of war.

Well over four years since the Iraq war began, “the number of US troops in Iraq has hit its highest level since the beginning of the war,” with approximately 162,00 forces currently on the ground. Shortly after the invasion, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said, “It’s hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would to take to conduct the war itself and secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army. Hard to imagine.”

(Think Progress)