Will the US secure Iraq's oil fields before they cut and run in 2009?

Because that's what's they're going to have to do if they want that oil: steal it. The country will remain awash with weapons and teeming with heavily armed militant sects. No point trying to fight with them, but if the US wants to be able to say "Look , we won!", then they need to get the oil. The bill for the liberation of Iraq is around 3 trillion bucks now, not counting the obscene loss of life. Get the oil. Pump the money back into the US economy. If they don't, the Chinese will be there building stadiums and signing a 20 year deal with whoever has the biggest gun and they'll not only have lost the war, they'll have lost the oil too!.