Operation ______ (fill in the blank)

What exactly is our purpose in Iraq? It started off as being about WMD's (unsuccessful), then toppling Saddam (successful), and now it's a combination of stabilizing the country, spreading democracy, and preventing civil war.

Somewhere along the ever-changing objectives, they lost me.

How do we know we have "won"? When sectarian violence ceases? Considering the opposition to our invasion and occupation of Iraq, as well meaning as it is, I would think a troop surge breeds more insurgency and opposition. At the same time, I don't advocate cutting and running. We have to clean up the mess we made.

As for the goal of making Iraq a shining example of democracy in the Middle East (or whatever the current catchphrase is), we must consider, do we really want democracy for Iraq? I thought that's what we wanted in Palestine. That is, until the Palestinians democratically elected a party we disagree with.