On the week marking the sixth anniversary of September 11th, General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, returned to Washington to testify on the status of the Iraq war.

While Petraeus described the success of the military surge, and Crocker complained of Iraqi political stalemates, Congress and the American public had only one thing on their minds—When do we get to leave?

The answer to that question should have been not until the U.S. fulfills its commitment to a rebuilt and stable Iraq.

Instead, we were given vague pull-out dates and a series of excuses that Iraqis were not stepping up to the plate.

So far, the Iraq endeavor has been carried out under a barrage of exaggerations, deceptions, and even lies. Those who argue for U.S. withdrawal say this is reason enough to get out. But while their point is legitimate, leaving Iraq now, or even a decade from now would be egregiously selfish and irresponsible.

It would be, let’s say, the geopolitical equivalent of sending your dog across the street to take a dump on your neighbor’s lawn and expecting him to pick it up.

As hard as it is to face, the Iraq disaster is and will continue to be America’s problem.

The pre-war assertions of those who opposed the attack in the first place have long been validated. Yet, if America is to salvage anything in Iraq, it’s time move past the I-told-you-so mentality and look to our own history for a brief lesson.

Ostensibly, the American Civil War was fought to emancipate southern slaves, and the subsequent creation of the Fourteenth Amendment gave birth to a new era of equality and freedom.

Sound familiar?

Yet, during the period known as the Reconstruction, newly freed slaves barely had time to celebrate before the Union turned its back on its mission in the South.

As historian Eric Foner explains, “[President] Andrew Johnson gave the white South a free hand in determining the contours of Reconstruction.”

As a result, Southern whites continued to deny blacks their rights by enacting Black Codes, coercive labor contracts, and ensuring “plantation agriculture survived emancipation.” In addition, Carpetbaggers from the North rolled in to extort Reconstruction efforts for their own private gain.

Now, modern day Carpetbaggers in Iraq-- corporations with large government contracts, continue to demand top-dollar in American taxes and Iraqi reserves while hospitals, roadways, and vital utility infrastructure lay in ruin.

The general line is to blame slowed-rebuilding efforts on sabotage and the ineptitude of the Iraqi government.

In a recent article in the New Yorker, however, reporter George Packer points out that around the country, thousands of Iraqis have put themselves in the line of fire for government and security force duty.

Packer adds that “many more Iraqis have formed organizations in support of issues like women's rights, created labor unions, set up educational programs, and established one of the Arab world's freest (and most endangered) presses”

Sadly, Insurgents have killed many of these individuals in an attempt to dispel a civil Iraq.

Therefore, by asking our troops to stay and protect these endeavors, along with real reconstruction, can we finally give meaning and restore honor their sacrifice. In turn, it will show Iraq’s neighbors that the U.S. is committed to the region and only then can we invoke authentic diplomatic measures.

In the same New Yorker article, an Iraqi man was quoted as saying, “Once Americans leave, Iraq will become hell.”

It is hard to imagine an Iraq worse off than it is now, but then for blacks in the South during the Reconstruction, it was probably difficult to imagine a life worse than slavery.