A Different Iraq Timeline

2003 - US and coalition forces enter Iraq to oust Sadamm from power.
2003 - 2005 - Fighting continues. Battle of Falujah begins in 2005. Sunni's feel increasingly excluded from the new Iraq. War torn provinces of Iraq are increasingly Sunni.
2005 - Iraq holds it's first election. Sunni's ask that election be postponed, they move forward anyway. Shiite politicians sweep the elections and move into positions of power. Heavy Iranian involvement in the election taints the outcome.
2006 - Iraq holds another election. This time for parliment. Sunni's rally and try to get representation in the government. Shiite's see the threat coming and band together under "a religious mandate" and hold on to government control. Sunni emotions flair to breaking.
2006 - 2007 - Sunni "terrorists" attack Shiites. Shitte "militias" attack Sunnis. Civil war breaks out. (There seems to be little difference between the actions of the "terrorists" and the "militias".) US troops are caught in the cross fire.
2007 - The first troop surge starts. US says that things are stablizing as the bloodshed continues. Gen Petraeus sees that Sunnis are disenfranchised, to give them power he organizes them into "awakening councils". 100,000 Sunnis take up arms. Sunnis begin to battle against al qaida and build increasing power. Shiiti politicians try to stop them. US steps in with 30,000 more troops in a second surge and the US military steps between the Sunnis and Shiites. The US moves deeper into the civil war.
2008 - The troop surges are successful. Violence in Iraq plummets. Sunnis get some much desired control over their fate. But political unrest continues. The US surges don't bring about political reconcilliation. US turns it's attention to Afghanistan.
2008 - 2009 - Troop build ups continue in Afghanistan. US involvement in Iraq wains.
2010 - Iraq holds elections once again. These elections are very important. If Sunni and Shiiti politians can both be elected there is a chance that the bloodshed will stop and this will ultimately determine how the US will leave Iraq. If, after the election, things go smoothly then 7 years after it began the war in Iraq should be over.

If the elections are riddled with fraud - which is actually quite likely - then the US has a very important decision to make. Either stay in Iraq and try to create a working government of the people, by the people or keep to the deadline and withdraw and watch Iraq burn.

The next six months in Iraq are critical.