What would happen NOW if we did pull out of Iraq?

Question

Will it send a message that America is weak and will eventually back down to terrorism? globally? domesticly?

Answer 1

NO. *Crispy Fried* - When we were IN Vietnam, millions of Vietnamese civilians were killed and thousands of American troops. Did you ever truly study the war in Vietnam? Do you realize that, much like Iraq, the ones we were "sticking up for" didn't want us there either? Do you know that we lost the war?

*Mike* - Clinton pulled out of Somalia in 1993 because the Republicans insisted he do so after the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter. Even then, he kept troops there for 6 months against the wishes of consevative Republicans. Black Hawk Down had nothing to do with Bin Laden - it was Aideed (remember him?), a warlord, killing Pakistani Muslims - Aideed was NOT a religious fanatic.. Clinton was also highly criticized by the right for being "too obsessed" with Bin Laden. They refused to have meetings regarding Bin Laden for 9 months. After the U.S.S. Cole Clinton had every intention of attacking Afghanistan, hunting Bin Laden, and overthrowing the Taliban, but the CIA and FBI refused to certify that Bin Laden was responsible. Clinton attempted to get him for 8 months, failed, and the Republican right insisted he stop trying and pay attention to "real matters in America". Clinton also set up a comprehensive anti-terror strategy with Richard Clarke at its helm but, funnily enough, Clarke was demoted by the Bush administration.

Perhaps once we leave Iraq we can go back to fighting a real war on terror - one that is against terrorist factions and not entire countries. IRAQ NEVER ATTACKED OR THREATENED TO ATTACK US. Why is this so conveniently forgotten these days? To counter that everything is so much better off in the Middle East because we attacked Iraq is ridiculous. There may still have been a civil war, but it would be THEIR civil war and none of our troops would have to be sacrificed so that the Administration could say "See? See? They're killing our soldiers." (As if this never happened before during war). One person mentions Saudi Arabia, Iran, & Turkey being at war over the country of Iraq if we hadn't attacked it first. WHAT??? Forces in the Middle East are more destabilized than they ever were! Fighting terrorism takes place on all fronts. Had we listened to our allies we may have had the numbers and intelligence to stop North Korea and (possibly) Iran from building up nuclear weapons. Instead, we have our forces centralized in a country that never even threatened to attack us, we know there were never WMDs there, and we have been sufficiently distracted from the terrorists building factions in Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, North Korea, China and elsewhere to stop whatever plans they might be conceiving. A war on terror is symbolic - it means attacking terrorists everywhere, NOT attacking one country and staying in the midst of a civil war that did not exist before we got there.

You may not agree with me, you have the ability to "thumbs down" my response, but at least READ it and double-check it against historical fact. Seems a lot of people around here throw their intellectual weight and family ties. I hate to give in to it but here - my ancestors (those who weren't put in concentration camps) fought in World War II, I double-majored in English and History, and I outright refuse to listen to information I know is not factual.

Answer 2

Hard to say. No doubt, the brave soldiers over there would get a rest and be able to regroup...that is the first benefit.
The war in Iraq will go on with or without coalition forces.
Our soldiers are in the same situation in Afghanistan, matter of fact, I hope to be soon joining them.
This war is costing the country way too much death and money and not enough results. I think the gradual withdrawl of troops and a whole new plan of approach involving ALL the allies is needed. The US and British are very mighty indeed, but c'mon....they can't finish this alone. Other countries need to step in and help out.

No, it will not send a message that America is weak. America is not weak, it's soldiers or it's people. I look across the border and I see the US patriotism still today as strong as it was on 9/11.

Answer 3

The problem is no one really knows, not even your congressman (hard to believe). But right now most Iraqis do not seem interested in democracy, but rather revenge. The whole thing is extremely unstable in a region that is also unstable. If the whole thing blows up, it will probably be impossible for the US to sit on the sidelines, but rather require MAJOR force deployments.

Answer 4

hmmmm... lets see, America indeed would look weak, but more importantly the sunnis and shites would continue to fight and it would be a hell of a lot more violent than it is right now, the current unstable government would collapse, Iran would try and take over the country as well as all of the current religious and terrorist factions. Then you would have a war between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey as all three would fight to gain control of the country, the entire middle east would destabilize and we would ultimately have to go back in facing a far far worser situation than we are right now...sounds like a good idea to pull all of the troops out now doesnt it?

Answer 5

There would be continued violence. But it would be THEIR violence to contend with. Such an action wouldn't thrust U.S. troops in the midst of such violence. It wouldn't kill U.S. troops. I've yet to accept any reason whatsoever why the U.S. continues to find a reason to stay in Iraq, EXCEPT if course, that it wants Iraqi oil. What most don;t understand is that US contractors are unable to get a hold on the oil wells. They burn daily. They are old, decrepit and in need of new parts, etc. But the Iraqis are a smart people. They can take care of their own. They kill each other you say? And? So? They have been killing each other for millenniums. Yet they manage to survive. They are a prolific people.
I would rather be killed by my"own" than some foreign invader hellbent on stealing my natural resources.
Go home USA.
Go home and take care of your own problems.

Answer 6

no.

it will show that america has wasted enough time on this sideshow in iraq AND WILL NOW START THE WAR ON TERROR.

iraq has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE 9/11 ATTACKS OR THE LARGER WAR ON TERROR.

it will only be when we leave iraq that the true war on terror will start...

Answer 7

yes, just like when Clinton (horrible president) pulled out of Somalia, which is the reason were fighting right now

Answer 8

If we backed out now,there would be one hell of a mess left behind. We shouldn't have even gone over there in the first place.

Answer 9

what happened when we backed out of Vietnam? thousands of innocent Vietnamese civilians got killed


it is selfish for americans to only think of themselves

Answer 10

You are 100% correct....and liberals will be happy.