The US military hit a new milestone recently - one that I am sure that it never wanted to attain. The death toll in Iraq has reached 2,000 servicemembers and Americans are getting tired of getting the news that their family members are dying. The American public wants the troops out of Iraq, no one wants to lose any more lives.
But as much as I hate to admit it, they need to stay. A troop withdrawl CANNOT occur until Iraq is more stable. If Coalition troops pull out now, the country will crumble into chaos and the religious extremists will take over. To pull out the troops now will lead to tens of thousands of death in the future. Here's why.
In the presence of a leadership vacuum, any character can take a foothold in the political arena and rally the masses. A person who comes forward and promises better times, a person who says that the Zionists are to blame for their poor standard of living, a person who wants to clean up their home and make it a better place for those who belong there.
Hitler had those same ideas. Tens of millions perished.
History has told the story and we must stay the course to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. I hate hearing stories of students and friends going off to battle and not returning. They are paying the ultimate price for a leadership error in the White House. But to leave Iraq before the region is stable is to condemn the world to another global conflict.
Saddam Hussein is gone and while a terrible person, he kept the country stable. WMDs? Guess not. Links to al Qaida? Maybe, maybe not. Evil bastard? Sure. But until someone/something is in place to restore the stability, Coalition troops must remain on the ground and in the line of fire to prevent the worst case scenario.
Americans - stay the course. Assume the responsibility. We put Iraq into this mess and we have to get it out. American troops must be in Iraq for years to come (at least 2008) and you shouldn't trust any politican who wants to pull them out during their campaign speeches. If you do, chances are we'll be going to war in the not-so-distant future after that withdrawl.
*And I still think Bush is an idiot*
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
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2 comments:
If America wanted to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past they should never have gone there in the first place (Vietnam, anyone?). Seriously, they are not welcome there, never will be, and there's a good chance that whatever regime they install will be toppled the day they leave, simply because it had the approval of the Americans. The longer Americans stay the the more heated the fuel of hatred will burn. I'm surprised they didn't pull out months ago.
Personally I think that whole region will never be stable until one of the guys there lobs a nuke at one of the others who then retaliate and the whole region ends up as uninhabitable molten glass. Stability achieved. They have been fighting amongst themselved for generations and it won't stop because some foreign power steps in and places a puppet regime (presumably with the goal of making sure the oil keeps flowing).
ps. Cryptome has been keeping a detailed count of dead americans with name and rank and they are up to 2,141. Strangely enough we never hear anything about how many iraqis have died during this tragedy?
You strike on many points that I feel to be absolutely true. Bush never should have invaded Iraq and this 'slam dunk' has turned into a giant quagmire of shit. Vietnam is an apt reflection and too bad the current administration didn't think about that before they started dunking.
As for making the region more stable, I agree that something dramatic is going to need to happen before people stop killing each other over there in the name of whatever. And as for toppling the regime that is empowered when US troops leave, it is a definite possibility. However, I still believe that until a centralized form of government is in place in Iraq, troops need to stay on the ground and help build up Iraqi police forces.
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