Does anyone think that pulling troops out of Iraq at this stage will solve the problem or make it worse?

Question

I mean I never agreed with the war in the first place, but will removing all of the technology and expertise of the occupying forces leave the country more open to attempts at a coup or a civil war?

I can't make my mind up so some intelligent, well qualified would be extremely gratefully received.

Thanks :)

I totally agree that the motivations behind the war are suspect, if not downright immoral. But that is irrelevant now; the situation is there, how can it possibly be dealt with?
And what about Iran? That would appear to be next; even though the cause may or may not be just, people simply do not believe that Bush or Blair are capable of acting in any way other than self interest.

I agree there should be an occupying force to protect and whatnot, but I think that force would have to British; American troops (and this is meant with absolutley no offence) have had too little experience at peacekeeping and Hearts and Minds soldiering. The sheer number of insatnces Blue on Blues are testament to that.

Answer 1

will make it worst and could be taken over by the terrorist and it starts all over again.

Answer 2

Blue on blues (I take it that means fratricidal incidents) happen in every military, not just the Americans. I'm not sure where the "experience" comment comes from, but we've got three years in Iraq, in suffucient numbers and in every part of the country.

Moot point anyway, as we're not engaged in so-called peace-keeping. It's also not an occupation, although I can certainly understand some people not knowing the difference.

Anyway, the very idea of withdrawing troops from Iraq now or in the near future is asinine. If the insurgency were really the home-grown, grass-roots freedom-fighter effort that so many reporters love to paint it as, then I would say we need to get out of there.

But that's not how it is on the ground in-country. The insurgency is an effort to keep the country destabilized and spark civil unrest and secular civil war, so as to facilitate future bids for power by extremists. A secondary objective of the insurgency is a weak, regionalized version of organized crime (hijacking gravel shipments, holding hostages for ransom, etc).

In this sort of environment, without US military support, the strongest single entity becomes the insurgency. Again, these are not freedom fighters, they are common criminals. If it were about freedom, I'd say let's get out.

Answer 3

I don't think there's a satisfactory answer to your question because its posed between solvency and deterioration.

Political power creates a system, and whenever a power leaves there is a rush to fill that power. If it can be done without violent conflict, I would consider that a victory. I doubt this can be done.

The problem of a Shi'a versus Sunni ethnic conflict existed well before all of this mess, and far pre-dated the unrest that the British occupation forces had to deal with when they decided to divide their domains in Trans-Jordan into manageable territories. The intent was to make sure the territorial leaders would not become too powerful, and so kingdoms were carved up to distribute power somewhat equally.

Modern Iraq is a conglomeration of three areas (the name itself is related to a word meaning "far away", as given by Kurdish peoples living in the northernmost province to those living in the southernmost) with three different ethnic majorities. These ethnicities never played along well together in the first place (the sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'a goes back to the 8th century A.D.). We only did not hear of much violence because much of Iraq's modern history has been under the rule of totalitarian regimes that quashed ANY potential enemies.

Now you have some Sunnis who were loyal to Saddam attacking both U.S. forces and their Shi'a enemies. You have some fundamentalist Shi'a attacking U.S. forces (since they are viewed as a terrible evil) as well as the Sunni who used to oppress them under Saddam's reign. Everyone else is just stuck in the middle, either taking up arms or trying to escape the violence.

The Sunni-Shi'a conflict will not resolve itself overnight. A tenuous peace can be maintained if the democratically elected government is felt to represent the interests of both, and both sides feel adequate participation and security from attacks by the other.

A significant and loyal military will help prevent the possibility of a coup. but there are no guarantees. These are the risks one takes to live in a democratic society.

If we were to pull out at this point in time, we would likely see the emergence of a civil war between those elements loyal to Saddam, those elements loyal to a violent radicalism, and those elements who are loyal to the democratically-elected leadership.

Answer 4

I believe that it is a no win situation. Iraq is damned if we do and damned if we don't. If we pull out, then another dictator will most assuredly take over. By staying there, we breed more hate towards the US and lose more of our loyal soldiers. Our war on Iraq has not stopped terrorist activity. Yes, a major factor has been removed. The people are free of Hussein (and the vast majority are grateful for it), but if we back out now, they will fall under another that may be even worse than Hussein and definitely just as bad. Is it our responsibility? Yes and no. We are not responsible for the Iraqi people (only morally we are responsible as humans for all humans), but another Hussein would be a major threat to Homeland Security. In the long run, our staying there is necessary. They funded the attack on US soil first. We are just defending ourselves. We must be careful not to become the dictators by deluding ourselves into thinking it is for our defense though. We are walking a very fine line.

Answer 5

Ok, well I'm neither intelligent or well in formed, but I do think that if they pull out now, it'll make the country a bigger mess than it already is. Think about it this way, if you decided to build a house(for example) but you had to pull the old one down first, you pull it down and then realise that it's to much work so you just walk away and leave it for somebody else to sort out,taking any plans with you. You'd leave a mess that would be difficult to clean up. So I think they need to stay and finish the job properly. I don't agree with the war, I never have. I think it's sending alot of Innocent people to their deaths, but I have no power to change that, and now it's started, they have to see it through to the end.

Answer 6

Look, leaving or staying would be a disaster. That is what we got into invading Iraq. Now the question is, how do you figure out what to do? Bush and his Staff are unable to admit that they made an historic mistake, and so they can not find a new way to go. We need this November election to get here, and to throw out the bums. We need to start over. We could do that if we take back the Congress or at least the House. Glory!

Answer 7

No, if US troops are removed from Iraq it will cause more problems than it'll solve.

For one, insurgents will cause even more havoc in Iraq, almost completely unchecked. The Iraqi security forces are not quite ready yet to handle their country by themselves.

Second, no one in their right mind can honestly believe that removing troops from Iraq will make terrorist groups forget about us and never attack us again.

Third, it'll be seen as a victory by the insurgents and related terrorist cells in the area. Knowing that they caused enough harm and enough discontent to cause US forces to be withdrawn.

Lastly, the Iraqi people need to be an example to the rest of the world (not just the Middle East) that a country can live and prosper without having to live under a tyrannical dictator.

Answer 8

I've always been against the war, but I have to say that it would only make things worse if we were to pull out now. Not too long ago, I saw part of an episode of "Frontline". In an interview, an Iraqi commander said that it was important that the US stay in Iraq for the time being, because the government was still so fragile that it would collapse without our support. There are all sorts of fanatics vying for power right now in Iraq. If we were to pull out now, they could possibly overthrow the new government and establish their own regime. And if one of them were to take over Iraq, they could possibly pose a bigger threat to the US and the rest of the world than Saddam Hussein ever did. Unfortunately, we have made a huge mess of things, so now we have to clean it up.

Answer 9

Since that will never happen..the point is moot...BUT..Pulling out would help only inasmuch as the country IS headed towards Civil War anyways..and so us pulling out would just hurry up the inevitable..and to further the future is better then this painful trickle of democracy we see every day on our computers and TVs..

I say let em fight it all out and be done with it..good or bad..one or the other..its THEIR country..NOT ours
The only reason were there is to further up the OIL markets with Mideast contracts..its all the Bushs have ever done...what did you expect with an Oil Man In the White House???

BTW..enjoying that 3 dollar a gallon drink at the pumps??

Answer 10

Pulling out RIGHT NOW, would create massive problems for the people of Iraq.

The Iraqi Security Forces are not up to the challenge yet. If we pulled out right now, Iraq would plunge into a civil war, the government that is right now in its infancy would collapse, resulting in anarchy, from the ashes of this anarchy I would assume that forces loyal to Militant Islamics like Muqtahda Al-Sadr would seize control of much of the country using his militia, and install another Extremist Islamic government (not unlike the Ayatollahs regime in Iran)

Answer 11

That's a chance that has to be taken. Eventually a Country, like a child, has to stand on it's own two feet. Right now, over 2000 men and women have been killed and over 45 billion dollars have been spent on the military. I think it is time to pull out.
I feel that the war was wrong from the start. We have no business dictating to another country how they should govern their people. We also went over there with no evidence but assumptions.
Our backyard isn't pristine. I think we should clean ours up before we start telling others how to clean theirs.