What would be the consequences of failure in Iraq for the United States?

Question

We reached the goal of crushing Saddam Hussein's military and his government. But if our goal since then has been to make Iraq into a well ordered democracy, then we are failing misirably at that. Almost everyone - even those who still support the war - say that it is not going well.

Now we are sersiously considering withdrawing our troops from Iraq. Clearly, the democrats want this. Many republicans do too.

If we leave now, we certainly leave with a failed mission.

What would the consequences of that failure be?

What would be the consequences be for the U.S.? For the future of American foreign policy?

What would be the conseqeunces for Iraq? For the region?

There is a lot to think about here before we make any decision.

Answer 1

The 'crushing Saddam Hussein's military' occurred in the first Gulf War. There is absolutely nothing to be said for the resistance of the Iraqi 'army', such as it was.
At issue was the question of what plan, if there was one, did the administration have when they mounted this exercise. If you'll recall, the result was largely expected to be a repeat of WWII. The War President really believed that his army would be met with flowers and masses of down trodden, gleaming with hope for democracy.
As any sociologist familiar with the region, or a history book, would have mentioned was that the country was a macramé of three diverse groups and they would always remain three diverse groups.
Hussein was a dictator. Dictators, as a rule, like to run the country by themselves. Hence the name. Saddam H. ran his country with a very tight grip. Well..now we know. Hindsight being what it is... that the only way the country was held together was through his experienced hand. I'm not saying it was a good thing. However, there were at least a dozen other countries we could have created a war with. Heck, we should have started out with Syria, Iran, Pakistan or any number of other hotbeds of evil doers.

The 'Stay the Course' rhetoric is all but dead, along with chances for a democracy. Most of the original population of Iraq are dead or fled. Bush has show the world that the US is the emperor wearing no clothes. We can be beaten, badly.

We have demonstrated that, like the Islamic run countries, we allow our religious beliefs to sway our choice of leadership. Foreign Policy is wounded. Other countries fear us more when they shouldn't. They hate us more, as they should. We have made terrorism flare up all over the world. We've demonstrated our arrogance, our inability to listen to world opinion as well as our inability to listen to our own country's opinion.
Iraq wants us out. US Citizens want us out. I think most Americans are getting tired of listening to Bush continue in the name of a religion that should never have condoned the actions.
In the end, we will be paying for these four years for many decades to come.
Bush is not Reagan and never will be.

Answer 2

A large part of the issue is that a lot of people have different definitions of success and failure.
As you correctly point out - Hussein was toppled and the world is short one vile dictator. A success!
Since then the power vacuum filled by Hussein has resulted in a complete collapse of civilization there. This is not getting better by simply sending more troops. It is not getting better by having an Iraqi government that is uninterested in sharing power, establishing order and taking control of it's own country. It is not getting better by perpetuating a feeling of helplessness and oppression amongst many Iraqis by having foreign troops run thier country.
In other words since the toppling of Hussein this mission has been a failure. Not might be, or would be if we left now, but is!
The consequences of an Iraqi administration that will continue to play petty power games rather than unite to take control of it's own affairs is outright civil war. That is where we are currently headed.
Setting a timetable for pulling out, forcing responsibility upon those who must take it, and removing the primary cause for unrest are positive steps towards a solution. It may not work - but "staying the course" has made the situation gradually worse for 5 years.
You are right - there is a lot to think about before we make a decision - that is why it is best to listen to all options, not mindlessly plough forward.

Answer 3

Horrible.

A. Anti-war liberals will be validated as being the first to say America couldnt pull it off, that we are inept militarily as well as the war on terror and the best strategy for dealing with terrorism is the democrat/socialist strategy is to leave them alone, appease them, give them things and hope they like you and go away.

B. Our military would be viewed as weak and countries that hate us would take a more aggressive posture.

C. What happens to the animal in the wild that is a popular target and viewed as weak? It gets relentlessly assaulted until it is food for others!

D. It would send a message to the world saying that capitalism weakens countries and promote communism.

E. It would give hope to Americas enemies in and our of uniform.

F. It would be a massive moral victory for AL Queda to have braggin rights that they kicked us out of Iraq encouraging recruitment and support.

G. State sponsors of terror like Iran would most likely be left alone to nuclear arm.

H. Between Vietnam and Iraq, the US would set a future precedent that after 2 years, military action should be discontinued no matter what is happening.

I. I would set a standard that we should cease trying to fight tyranny and terrorism in the future.

J. It would greatly demoralize our army placing part of the blame for the defeat on them.

K. The 2nd largest oil fields in the middle east would be used to help fund terrorism.

L. In all liklihood a REAL civil war would break out with millions dead until they get their next Iranian Shia dictator who would be vehemently anti-US and another arm of Iran.

M. The kurds who are the only Iraqis that really have their act together would be threatened and attacked under such circumstances. (Kurd cities are statistically safer than ours)

N. Israel would be one step closer to getting an all out invasion from Muslim nations.

O. Oil and gas prices would go through the roof. We could be looking at $5-10/gal gas if such a war started.

Did I leave anything out?

Answer 4

You need to answer that with this:

What happened after we left Vietnam? No Communist Vietnamese came over here to try and take over America. They just wanted us out of their country.

This is a Civil War. If there are consequences, it was due in part because bush did not have an actual election. bush placed people in power in Iraq, and I believe that is part of the reason why there is a Civil War.

You are right, there is a lot to think about. Problem is, bush's way is NOT WORKING, so he needs to come up with something else...NOW. It's not fair that our VALUED Soldiers should lose their lives like this...

Answer 5

"There is a lot to think about here before we make any decision." - I like that. You must be a sincere individual. You are exactly right - we (and the rest of the world) have a great deal at stake.

Consequences:
1. The entire middle east WILL break out in war. Not just one nation against another. It will be that AND tribe against tribe within each country and across those so-called national borders. Israel will face an entire regional war (again) but this time I believe millions may die.
2. Should this type of war occur, oil supplies will dry up and that will strangle the economies of the entire West, including the U.S.
3. In the chaos, those sworn to exterminate us will follow us to our homeland. It will be difficult to protect our open society against these madmen.

All of this (and more) is not a pretty picture. We have totally mishandled the Iraq war until now but I fear what is going to happen if (when) we pull out.

Answer 6

wow some sensible answers on this subject for a change. This is indeed a hard war to fight. And some here in the U.S. refuse to believe we are at war with the Islamo fascists, even though they have been at war with us and the free world for over 30 years at least. I see a lot of faults with both the major political parties but on this one I have to stand with our president. I look on with dismay at times listening to the far left liberals who have taken over the Democrat party. When they voted to take out Sadam and it looked like it was going well they were the first to take credit for it. lol Only when things didn't go well did they change their tunes and say they were lied to and fooled into voting for the war. Such hypocrites! They have always hated Bush for winning the white house and investing in defeat in Iraq gains them political points along with spreading their hate for Bush among those of us who listen to their lies and half truths. They have helped divide this country at a time when we need to be united in the knowledge that these terrorists arn't going to stop attacking us and the free world if we cut and run from Iraq. It will make them stronger. If they get their hands on the Iraqi oil along with the 10% of the worlds oil that Iran already has they will really be able to raise havoc with the world's economy. Folks they need to be defeated just like Nazi germany needed to be defeated and Imperalism in Japan. If we don't do it then who will? I hope the Democrats wake up in time and stop their selfish political games and unite as Americans and crush this evil, take away their will to fight. United we can't loose divided we can't win.

Answer 7

We will have failed to build a nation. With Japan and Germany resounding successes, I think we can feel pretty good, as two out of three ain't bad.

And, as you say, we succeeded at everything we actually went to do. Building a nation was NOT one of our goals. They had a functioning nation without our help.

On the other hand, rebuilding a nation we destroyed does seem to me the right thing to do.

In answer to your question: When we leave, thousands of civilians will die. We stay to police the country, and yes, it's costing us in money and lives. But if we pull our "policemen" out, many thousands of civilians will die in the predictable regional and national power struggle.

And guess who will get the worlds blame for that?

Answer 8

More terrorist attacks for USA and her Allies and the Iraqi people will be taken over by Al-queda.So I guess Saddam was the lesser of 2 evils.

Answer 9

I hope we don't have to find that out first hand. For one, I'll be pissed of because I hate fighting a war and then losing.

Answer 10

USA government created a fake story to stolen the oil from iraq and destroy the country no terrorist in iraq all of these **** by american governments and the poor people are irqe people and american solders