That’s the day that the combat mission in Iraq will end, thanks to President Obama. I realize that some Democrats are not satisfied with the withdrawal because 35-50 thousand troops will stay behind to support counter-terrorism duties for a period of time after the official withdrawal. However, please keep in mind that although many consider the Korean War to be over, it’s not, as no treaty was ever signed and we have troops who still get stationed in South Korea.
I know that having upwards of fifty thousand men and women in uniform is quite large. However, Iraq is still not stable and the process of handing things over needs to be taken with great care to avoid having to return ten, fifteen years down the road to deal with a bigger mess. Remember, we helped some guys in Afghanistan push out the Soviets and then we left…. a bit over twenty years later the World Trade Center had been bombed and we were going after one of those folks we had trained and funded. Hell, we’re still looking for him. So, although I never agreed with Bush’s decision to go into Iraq, we do need to be careful as to how we leave and I do believe that the plan that President Obama has come up with, after taking great consideration and through discussions with military experts, I completely support his decision.
The important thing is that the end is in sight when it comes to the battles our men and women have had to fight in Iraq and that this President was smart enough to call for a surge of 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan where things are still quite out of hand. Oh, and before you judge, I already know two people who will be there by the end of the summer. They both have families. However, they both understand why they are going there- the job is not done. What we’ve been doing in Afghanistan, dating back to October 7, 2001, is valid. When my duties changed to support Operation Enduring Freedom, I did not internally question why. I knew, and I supported it until the day I separated from the military.
I am pretty liberal in my philosophy. However, I’m also a veteran who understands that while what we did in Iraq wasn’t the greatest of decisions, we need to leave the country neatly and we need to tie up our loose ends in Afghanistan to prevent the cost of unnecessary loss of life for all sides.
Filed under: political morsel Tagged: | 31AUG2010, Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan, President Obama, troop withdrawal
I agree with you…we made the committment, right or wrong, but we have to finish it neatly as you say. Just wish we could have figured it out about 4000 lives ago…….I’m okay with our Afghanistan committment…we should have been there all along.
Yes, and that’s just counting US forces. That doesn’t include the contractors, and innocent civilians.
The war in Afghanistan I had and continue to have no problem with. I’m glad President Obama plans to send more troops there. We need to finish what we started there.
As far as Iraq goes, I’m glad that there is now an end in sight. The point you make about Korea is especially valid. I would not be at all surprised if we end up having some presence in Iraq indefinitely, just as we do in Korea.
I agree with the plan. I hope some day we can bring everyone home, as we are not supposed to be empire-building, but I suppose that is not realistic. We have about 37,000 troops in South Korea, 68,000 troops in Germany, 50, 000 troops in Japan, etc. I read that if we include the support people in Japan, the number is more like 96,000. That’s a lot of people!
I am so glad this was not my decision to make. I have screamed about Iraq since BEFORE it started and have wanted to bring the troops home NOW. All of them. Isn’t it lucky that I am not in charge? President Obama’s choice is the right one and will, hopefully, stop what happened in Afghanistan in the ’80s from happening now. We need to help the Iraqis stand on their own feet… even if it takes a few decades (sigh). Hopefully we will not have a permanent presence there, but if we do, hopefully it WILL be like S. Korea where there is no open warfare and our troops will be safe!
Thank God these people get to come home!