Why do people think that gradually pulling out of Iraq will cause less troops to die?

Question

if we have 20,000 troops that cannot hold up to the armies... What makes you think 10,000 will?

Logic is lost.

You stand behind our troops? Well go ask them what they want to do.

I bet it's stay in Iraq and get the job done!

Aviator... We all should know that the less forces... The less defense.

Answer 1

I often find myself pondering similar things and questiong the logic. This is the reason for the proposed troop surge. The amount there isn't working, so the hope is that a surge will squash the violence to a more managable level, and then they can start reducing. The LOGICAL complaints that I've heard about this new strategy is that the surge just isn't a large enough surge. The others are just not logical. The fact is that people in favor of pulling out, whether fast or slow, I believe are not really thinking about the consequences of doing so. The emotional reaction is that the longer our troops stay, the more will die. This may be true, however, what will happen to Iraq after that happens? Who is already waiting to swoop in and take over (Iran)? That will invalidate all the sacrifices and effort made thus far. When did the United States of America become a nation of people who quit when things just get too hard? When did the lines between hard and impossible become so blurred? It's the same attitude I face daily as an educator. It's just too hard...(Please insert whiney voice here).

Well I don't know about you, but I like to look back at the example of my great grandfather. We called him Pops. Pops lived to just barely turn 95, and he was a World War I verteran. As soon as the United States entered the war, a young Pops went right in to volunteer to fight for his country. He described the greusome nature of trench warfare and bayonets, but my favorite story about Pops, that really to me exemplifies what we seem to have lost in this day and age in most people, is the injury that earned him his Purple Heart. He was shot through the calf, and the paramedics were trying to get him to safety, and he looked at them and said, "you go on. there are guys out here who need you more than me." And Pops crawled back to safety on his own. Where are these men today? I see some of them. I see this in the young men who come back missing a leg, and instead of whining and giving up, they're actually upset because they can't get back to join their brothers in the fight. I can't tell these men and women that they gave up a limb for Americans who want to get going when the going gets tough. I know Pops taught me that anything easy probably wasn't worth doing, but it seems to me that we've lost that in these past couple generations. If things are hard, people just want to quit. I'll tell you this, I don't remember things that were handed to me nearly as well as the things for which I have to work hard. I think we need to find our collective backbone and look for a winning strategy that doesnt' involve quitting, whether on a fast or slow timetable.

Answer 2

Our troops are safer in Iraq right now, then they would be as a civilian living in Pittsburgh (with over 400 murders last year alone and a much smaller population then Iraq).

In WW 2 the USA lost many thousands of troops in a single day some times, as far as wars go the causalities are very light in Iraq. So in order to preserve the freedom for Iraq and keep the conflict from growing to include Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan. We can not pullout until the job is done.

Answer 3

I examine this two times. the way you layer longer tale-appropriate prose is admirable, and something I actually have a lot hardship with. you're making it seem straight forward, organic, yet all human beings who write understand the alternative is actual. I in many cases degree the effectiveness of slightly by using the style of TD's........Jealousy rears that's green head. Kudos to you, Mr Carney.

Answer 4

Are you talking about troop deaths or ability to fight insurgents? If you are only talking about troop deaths, it seems obvious that the less troops you have there, the less that will die. For example, if we had zero troops there, then there would be zero deaths.

Answer 5

I stand behind out troops 125%, But, I don't stand behind out president at all.... We need to get out of Iraq now...forget them Iraqi's..... before another 3000 die !!!! & another 25,000 are wounded !!!! Former Army vet here....

Answer 6

So by your logic, we'll never leave.