Will pulling out of Iraq signal our defeat to the terrorists?

Question

Or have we already done that?

Answer 1

No. There were hearings recently at the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a General commented to the Senators (I'm sorry I don't have his name at my fingertips), something to the effect, "...the situation has devolved into civil war, with three fronts. Please tell me, on which side are we supposed to fignt??" Even Ronald Dumsfeld, I mean, Donald Rumsfeld, admitted "...we have now entered a period of asymmetrical and irregular warfare..." Our troops were not trained for such a mission, and are being caught in the crossfire.

Any serious war on terrorism has to include going after the source of $$, which is the illegal narcotics trade. So far, our leaders seemed to have avoided that question.

Unfortunately, even though some retired generals warned this President, not to invade without an exit strategy, intelligence reports were doctored, and the US went ahead with the war; now the region is being used for recruitment of increasing terrorism, directly against our nation.
There are solutions, but it means returning to the principles of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the "100 years war" of religious warfare in Europe.

Answer 2

Pulling out would only be confirmation of what is happening. Not being able to defeat the terrorists on the ground in Iraq is the signal of The USA defeat. It didn't have to happen. The politico's sent troops in with a bizarre understanding of the country they were invading. Everyone was a rabid hater of the US and everyone wanted the US to liberate them. They went in to liberate and occupy a country who just wanted to get rid of the oligarchy on top and which has always resented occupation. (The Brit's tried it for thirty years and finally just left). They tried to do it on the cheap which always is expensive in lives. They knocked out a modern infrastructure, electricity,TV and running water and sat back and did not do anything to replace it. Then they disbanded not only the army but the police force which threw opened the borders to terrorists and left the streets to the crooks.Then they sat back and waited for the accolades for the great job they had done. Right now there are nine different forces operating in Iraq. They do shoot at each other,not all at each other but A vs D, Bvs C,D etc. The only common target they have is the Allied forces. That why the accolades blow up and good troops die.

Answer 3

Yes it will signal our defeat if we pull out of Iraq now, because if we pull out of Iraq, then that nation will either be overthrown by terroristic organizations like Al-Queda, or they will be quickly overtaken by a nation such as Iran.

If we pull out now, then the US will have gone through all of this war in vain, because Saddam would simply be replaced by another type of terroristic dictatorship.

The United State's job right now is to make the Iraqi government, law enforcement and army strong enough to defend and sustain itself. That takes time and they need our help to do that. That is our current mission. And as the army, government and law enforcement get stronger and are able to maintain some sense of stability, then we should, and will, slowly withdraw U.S. troops.

We can't just demolish a country, destroy their law enforcement and government, and then create anarchy without fixing what we broke. That would be bad news. As I said, the country would just be worse off and overthrown if we just up and left right now.

We need to finish the mission. Not run and hide, and leave Iraq in worse shape than we came, which the liberals in U.S. government are aiming for. That would be deplorable and dishonorable.

Right now, we are doing what we must do. It is the only right answer to the situation we now have before us.

Answer 4

We pulled out of Iraq too early before. To do so again would be folly.
We have to stay for a little while longer. As for signaling our defeat to the terrorists, heck no. We showed them we will stand and fight. We will not bow down. There is no negotiating with them. They want the destruction of our way of life.

Answer 5

YES! And Yes. Just talking about pulling out our troops gives them
the sign of victory. That is why they attacked Israel. They thought
they would give in and they have. They agreed to the ceasefire
and now Hezbollah is claiming victory! They use that to show all
of the Arabs that they are real warriors and something to be reckoned with. Every time we talk about pulling our troops they
see that as a sign of weekness and decide that they should strike
harder because we are backing down. The people that speak out
against this war publicly are putting our troops in more harms way
than they already were. They begin to think the US is weak and
afraid of war and it's casualties. I don't care if people disagree with the war but I wish that it would stay within our borders.
I think publicily we need to have a united front in whatever we do!

Answer 6

To be honest, our initial withdrawal from Iraq - if done correctly - could later be considered a victory for Democracy and Peace in the long term.

I don't believe that IMMEDIATE withdrawal is the answer. I wish it could happen without causing Iraq to plummet into anarchy, but that's not possible in an immediate pullout.

I do believe in a phased withdrawal at the soonest practicable date (As Congressman Murtha once said).

Doing it correctly can and will only succeed first of all with a promise that our country and other coalition forces have NO PLANS for permanent presence in the region.

Next would have to be a phased transition of control from US Control to UN Peacekeepers, and then to Iraqi Self-Reliance.

The quick and steady transition of all operations regarding Iraqi oil to the people of Iraq is another VITAL step. This would create Iraqi jobs and be of great benefit to other things they need done.

The continued promotion and construction of better schools and jobs will be of great importance to the survival of their society and peace. Nation's that prosper in education, equal rights and jobs don't see a rise in terrorist activity or recruiting.

Will it be easy? No. There will always be those wishing to disrupt the path to peace, but it is a first big step in the right direction.

Other steps needed are:

Separation from our oil dependency. Our Government (and other western governments) need to stop supporting Arab dictators (as well as others) in exchange for the right to create military bases and access their valuable resources. This is and always has been an effective tool in recruiting new terrorists. People hate western presence on their holy land, and they REALLY HATE western financial and political endorsement of the rulers that oppress them.

We need to be more open-minded on the whole Palestine/Israeli issue. We need to realize that the Israeli and Palestinian people are both innocent as they were forced to live with each other in 1948. It's understandable why the Israelis were given their own country, but we have to remember that this wouldn't have been possible if the centuries of oppressive Imperial Rule over Palestine had never taken place.

That's what those people hate so much. It doesn't help matters when Western Governments side with Israel NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO. Let's be fair, yes their are Terrorists that kill Israelis, but the Israeli government acts like they can get away with any war crime imaginable.

We need to do a better job of crying foul whenever BOTH SIDES are at fault instead of just one side. It's not Anti-Semitic to tell the truth and "call em' as you see em".

Anyways, that's just my thoughts on that matter.

Answer 7

Yes, fighting the terrorists have fueled hate for the U.S. and many have joined their cause, whatever it is. But if we left now, the rest of the world would too and people would join the terrorists ten fold once that happened. No, we cannot leave until Iraq is stable enough to do so.

Answer 8

Not if we stay until the mission is complete. Besides, it gives us a place to fight terrorists that would otherwise be trying to come to the US anyway. We stay until Iraq's government can secure the country, that will make it a success there.

Answer 9

I am a Bush supporter, however I feel that after Saddam was removed from power our mission was done.

We shouldn't still be over there trying to rebuild a nation. We should be focusing on our own nation.
So if we pull out, we would be doing the right thing.

Louie

Answer 10

WE ALREADY LOST lets leave with our tail between our legs and save $1 billion dollars every day