Should the U.S. remain in Iraq or withdraw

U.S. In Iraq

SHOULD the UNITED STATES LEAVE IRAQ

Argument for Leaving Iraq:

The war in Iraq was unjustified in the first place and would never have been supported by Congress if the Bush administration had presented the case for war honestly and used only reliable information to reach the conclusion that a U.S. war in Iraq was justified. We now know that Saddam Hussein did not have any of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) upon which the war was justified to the American people.

While Saddam Hussein was an oppressive tyrant, U.S. foreign policy does not include removing oppressive foreign leaders who do not threaten the U.S. Or its allies.

Iraqis are better off without Saddam Hussein, his murderous sons and his Baathist party.

A full-scale Iraqi civil war is now inevitable unless the U.S. is prepared to remain in the country in sufficient force to prevent it for the foreseeable future, well into the next decade. At the current rate of American casualties from insurgent attacks, we will eventually surpass the American losses in Vietnam before an independent moderate Iraqi government becomes capable of securing its control over the country without continued U.S. military support.

Argument Against Leaving Iraq:

The fact that the war in Iraq may have been unjustified at the time is not particularly relevant to the current issue about whether or not to remain in the region now. The fact is we are presently engaged in a war and we must decide whether the interests of this country are better served by continuing our occupation of Iraq or by withdrawing our forces.

In 1991, we encouraged Iraqi citizens to rise up against their oppressive government and support U.S. efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein. When we decided to pull our forces out after the short ground war instead of occupying Baghdad, most of those Iraqis who had attempted to follow U.S. instructions were imprisoned and tortured or simply executed, often with their entire families. If the U.S. pulls out of Iraq now, we should never expect cooperation from citizens in any other country in assisting U.S. interests, because none of our promises to them will have any credibility.

If we leave Iraq in its current state, the civil war that is now being fought as an insurgency will erupt into a vicious civil war with mass retaliation against thousands of Iraqi moderates who have been cooperating with U.S. interests. The power vacuum in government will allow Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents to use Iraq and its vast oil resources as a staging ground and training center in support of the global Jihad against the U.S.

Conclusion - Call to Action: