What are we doing in Iraq?

Iraqis now wait in line for kerosene at service stations in Baghdad as a fuel shortage worsened and left homes cold and dark.
On December, 13 a rebel bomber killed nine at the entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone. Nineteen people were wounded.
Most of the victims were locals lining up to enter the Green Zone to go to work.
The attack was at Saddam Hussein's presidential palace. It is used by several embassies and is the headquarters of the American-backed government.
Rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds at an Iraqi National Guard patrol.
The attacks came a day after four police officers were killed in two attacks in central and northern Iraq. The rebels have continued attacking anyone who cooperates with the Americans.
Many attacks have been in Baghdad, where rebels strike at will.
The British and American Embassies do not allow employees to use the airport road.
In Samarra, rebel attacks have become commonplace. A rocket-propelled grenade exploded near an Iraqi Army post on Sunday. Two civilians were wounded.
At Tikrit rebels detonated a car as they approached a tank.
Near Baquba American troops detained more than 50 suspected rebels in a series of raids.
In the city of Erbil, a car bomb exploded recently in the Kurdish territories.
During the weekend separate attacks killed seven marines.
Meanwhile, Iraqi policemen loyal to the Americans in Umm Qasr arrested men on December 12th accused of trying to smuggle sheep into Saudi Arabia.
What are we doing in Iraq, again?