The Endgame In Iraq

I still don't know what it is.
Just viewed "Iraq In Fragments" and am overwhelmed by the complexity of the problems there. I can't help but feel that America went there not understanding the country at all. For a culture that is so steeped in religion, the place seems utterly God-forsaken - wracked by violence and conflict. The fact that we are sending 20 year old soldiers into the middle of it seems absurd.
Maybe partitioning the country into three regions makes the most sense, but I'd like to hear SOME plan that isn't about the next three months only. All I hear from the president is the same thing I heard years ago - "We have to fight the "terrorists" there so they don't come here" and "We can't leave until the job is done."
Can somebody please tell me what that means? Do we have to stay until there is no more terrorism in the world? When is that going to happen?
We can't keep making this mistake. America went to the polls twice and voted for a man because they thought he shared their moral convictions and he was the kind of guy you "could have a beer with". Well, unfortunately, six months after taking office, a problem of enormous complexity was placed before a president who functions on very simple terms. He did not understand what he was dealing with, and still doesn't. The American people have to bear much of the burden for this.
I'd like to hear more ideas about what to do next.