For the Dems. Why is it exactly you don't believe we should stay and finish the war in Iraq?

Question

This is serious, I'm not looking for smart *** answers. I get that you don't like Bush and you believed he lied about going into Iraq. But now that we are there and terrorists are there (and we are gonna have to fight them somewhere) why don't we continue fighting them in Iraq? Every life lost over there is tragic, but in comparison to other wars and to what could happen if we retreat I think the total numbers of soldiers lost is low. If we do pull out of Iraq what would be your solution for fighting terrorism?

violation nation-- you didn't answer the question, and I served my country how about you, jackass!

Answer 1

Because nobody has defined "finish".

The closest anyone has come is "stay until there is no more violence in Iraq" -- which at best estimate will take decades.

So, without knowing what we're trying to achieve, or how we can measure progress, there is no way to define "finish" -- other than to make it an arbitrary statement of "whenever we think we've done enough".

And many people think we've already done enough.

Answer 2

1. Because tactical gains are not being translated into strategic gains. By this I mean that the sucess the surge has had was only intended to allow the political solutions that General Petreas and every serious commentator on the war has said is necessary to be enacted. However, the Iraqis are not implementing the majority of the recommendations, and the few they are implementing are being done half heartedly.

2. The vast majority of fighting is being done by Iraqi fighters, not al-qa'ida. If we leave, they have no beef with the US, and will turn on al-Qa'ida. You may have read the reports about the sunnis siding with the US against AQ. Great! However, those same fighters say they will continue to fight the Shiites after AQ is gone.

3. While one can argue about whether or not "fighting them there so we don't fight them here" is true or not (I think not), the fact is that Iraq is an incredible training ground for terrorists. They are learning what explosives work against our equipment, what intelligence techniques work and don't work against us, and how to survive against a powerful enemy. If we had half a million troops over there maybe we could kill all the AQ before they spread their knowledge. even then in today's internet connected world it would be a longshot.

So, those are my main reasons. I can go much more indepth if you want.

Answer 3

Ever hear about Melson Bacos, who did murder a civilian Iraqi??? Ooops - now YOU and MM have something in common... Here's the deal you have 2 groups the Sunni's & the Shi'ite's who have hated each other for centuries and will continue to do so.... 2nd - the extremist & al-qaida do NOT wear uniforms they blend in with the civilians, which puts us in a bad situation seeing as though we can't fight until they open fire 1st... the war will never end - the cost originally was 80 billion, it's now above 350 billion.... So while we continue to support an UNJUSTIFIED War (cause the wmd claim was false) we are now protecting a group of people where 1/2 no longer want our protection due to living better under Saddam, while millions of OUR OWN PEOPLE go without insurance.... It's NO wonder why people no longer take the Rep Party seriously - they are out of touch with REALITY!!

Answer 4

We should have never invaded in the first place. Now that we are there and caused so many more problems, we do need to take some accountability. We can't just keep throwing away lives and money for undefined objectives. There are reports that things are now being stabilized a little bit. If this is true then we should leave it to the Iraqis to police themselves. As far as our political objectives there is absolutely no progress. We could leave in our troops til hell freezes over and that will not change the Iraqi government or the will of the Iraqi people. Do we really want our troops fighting and dying for a government that goes on vacation while there is work to be done? Victory is a pipe dream. Relative stability is as good as it's going to get.

Answer 5

President Bush in may of 2003 said that "major combat in Iraq is over"

How many American troops and Iraqi civlians have been injured and killed since then. Way too many.

Second of all what does finish or win mean? No one can answer that question for me. There is no way that every terrorist will be killed in the world. If there not in Iraq they'll be in some other country. (many in the US because of non-existent border control)

Lastly Bush invaded Iraq to disarm Saddam of the WMD's that were not there. So why are we still there? He did not invade Iraq to set up a democracy and stay for an indefinite amount of time.

Answer 6

Because Bush and his cronies refuse to define exactly what "finishing" in Iraq is. And I'm not in favor of giving our government carte blanche to do whatever it wants without having to answer to the people.

If Bush would lay out a specific, point by point plan about how he intends to end terrorism, and exactly how the war in Iraq relates to that, and exactly how it is we're compelling the people of Iraq to begin to take over their own country, I'd be willing to listen. But he's telling me that, for the safety of my country, he won't do that. That I'm supposed to just "trust" him. And I have no reason to do that. He's been wrong about far too much already.

Answer 7

You cannot fight a culture. The lesson should have been learned in Korea, Vietnam, etc. I am old enough to have been alive when these wars took place. There is no ending, there is no finish, there is only mistake after mistake and our young men are dying for an ego trip and Halliburton. Gee, my dad fought in WWII, my uncle in Korea, my great-grandfather in Spanish/American, my husband was wounded in Vietnam and returned to fight again. You cry baby. If you wanted an answer, then you should accept other's views. By the way, that is part of being an American. Also, everyone of these ancestors were convinced in the end that they had been used by our Government for political reasons.

Answer 8

The only good thing I can say about the war in Iraq is that we ar killing off terrorists. As far as setting up a democracy, it will go to crap as soon as we leave. I agree with the others. Give me a plan as to what finish means and I might be more supportive.

Answer 9

America committed an international crime when it invaded Iraq and it is committing a crime by occupying the country.

Middle East population believes that the US intent is to steal resources like oil, and that's hard to disprove. The longer we stay, the higher the military and civilian causualties. We need to begin a transition out right now. There is no winning, we've already lost.

I'm afraid the oil companies want the US to stay for 20-30 years.

Answer 10

Because they are trying desperately to hold on to this little bit of power that the have not had since Clinton's first term. Ladies and Gentleman even if a Dem is elected in '08 we will be in Iraq a min of 10 years. If we do pull out before the election, it helps them because they play the Republicans have failed, and this war shows it card". If we don't pull out, they know that they will have to continue to fight it, and don't know how to, which will result in a minimal Democrat hold of the executive branch.