The Ron Paul's and the democrats must realize pulling our troops out would be catastrophic. There comes a time when everybody must realize that we cannot be either “isolationists” or “independent” of the rest of the world.  Other parts of the world, especially the Middle East, Venezeula, etc have access to the most important resource in the world. Our production of oil, while once one of the largest in the world, peaked in the 1970’s. When the rest of the world’s production peaks, as it will, the country that controls such nations as Iraq will be in decidely better shape. 
    Now Ron Paul does have it right on some points. We were NOT told the real reasons for going to war. We were NOT told why we were occupying the country. But, even though the government chose not to tell us those reasons, it is not hard to deduce. 
    The world is running out of easy, ’sweet’ oil (low in sulphur content that is in a geographically easy place to access and transport). When this happens, production will begin to fall off(not run out, but decline).  With a decline in production and a continued increase in consumption, prices will go sky high and will probably lead to shortages.  
    So, we just drive less, right?  Unfortunately, that won't work.  Our food is all transported by trucks, our crops our produced with the aid of tractors and fertilizers, most of our goods are plastic based.  Our economy is literally and entirely based on oil and economic growth.  We don't have to run out of oil for this to be an issue, we just have to have a difference between supply and demand.  Remember the 70's when OPEC decided to hold out on oil?  There were lines at every gas station, with prices soaring to the $1.60's(Yeah, I know, we all wish we could pay under $2 a gallon today).  And, that was only a 3% difference.  When oil peaks, the difference will be about 3% per year, every year, until it becomes no longer cost and net-energy effective to continue drilling.    
    That is why we must keep a strong foreign presence. That is why we need a strong military, and that is why we can’t withdraw into ourselves. We don’t produce enough, we consume too much, and the only way to offset that is to maintain a strong foreign presence.