Iraq

It is high-time to pull out of Iraq now. If the Iraqis want that, so be it. Most importantly, it is their call, but also every soldier's and veteran's call and the American taxpayer's call, not Obama's call or some general's recommendations. It could even be the "insurgent's" advantage that the US leaves completely, but they are Iraqis too, and should be charged under Iraqi law if they choose to blow people up. And if the dead US servicemen were alive, they too would prefer their comrades serve peacefully and actually defend their country.

As far as I am concerned, most civilians are weary of violence and simply want to make their living in peace. They are just about helpless. Increasingly, they also want their own sovereignty and their own government that would protect them. Factions can go kill each other, but no one really wants civil war. And if they did fight, what is there for the US to do - do nothing, join in or kill both? Either way, US is going to lose support. If the US left Iraq on its own will, maybe the Iraqis will at least respect the US not as a useless occupier but with slightly better impression of it. The US has no moral obligation to deal with a civil war that has deep roots in factions many politicians don't understand and not caused by the US. Personally, I think at most, they want some more division and self-rule for their own factions. They don't have to fight to get it, unless the Iraqi government does not yield and chooses to deal with them.

As for leaving Iraq, No timetable necessary. Just ship everyone back to the US and call it all off. I'm sure the commanders can do it easily, and at low cost. By that, I also mean all those security companies. This has gone long enough and all the strategies just add to the spending. 

And while I have no problems with the production of drugs itself, I suggest the Afghan government could just buy off the opium poppy fields, curbing a large percentage of drug production and related crimes. Doing that could cut down "terrorist group" funds significantly, at least until they find another way. Right now, US troops are not allowed to do anything to the fields. 

As for the future after that, the US really needs to learn to keep fighter planes in the air all the time, and if 9/11 was in any way deliberate or connected to the US government, that they not do it again. No sane civilian in a free society decides to have full-scale war with others, even the most simple intuition will agree. 

People in all the countries on earth need to be free and learn to be far more active in their government's affairs, because that is the simplest and most effective way to prevent any major hostility. The UN or the League of Nations or any other global governing body, whether you believe in its principles or not, has stood by or not been helpful for many conflicts since its founding. At most, they try to pick up the scraps. The world has charitable organizations that are far suited for this.