So geniuses, how exactly do we pull out of Iraq without having a power vacuum?

Question

I keep hearing the cries of "bring 'em home", "pull out".... does leaving a mess and hoping someone else will clean it up for us work in your minds? Will our leaving make the terrorists think, "Hey, the infidels have left our land... phew, now we can stop fighting them and plotting against them. Time to go on live peaceful in our nations that we were born in and go back to work"?

To the first poster - I love how people like you never answer the question. I ask how we get out and you parrot away. Thank you for being a Hugh Jass.

Trevor s - There were different circumstances.... the US was part of English territories and they got their you know whats kicked. According to some, we are the most evil nation in the world, so your little argument isn't working for anyone but you.

bettercockster2 - Thank you for the age compliment but 32 would be more accurate, thumbs down for assuming. Next time just answer the question.

To those that think only Conservatives got us in Iraq, remember that almost EVERY politician in DC sold us into invading Iraq.
http://www.glennbeck.com/news/01302004.shtml

descendantofzeus - I'm not bashing your answer but in many was... you just described the US!

Answer 1

That's why we need to find a political solution. Until the Iraqis recognize the authority of their own government, we can't leave and expect anything other than chaos and civil war.

Unfortunately, none of them appear interested in compromise or power-sharing. The Shiite majority wants revenge for all the years that Saddam's Sunni-led government was in power. The Kurds want independence, but also want their share of the oil revenue. The Sunnis can't accept the fact that they're no longer in power.

Worse yet, you now have Shiites killing Shiites because they disagree with one another. So on top of the sectarian violence, insurrection, and Al Qaeda attacks, the Shiite militias are assassinating Shiite governors.

A cynical person might suggest that all the Iraqis care to do is kill and steal (corruption in the government is so widespread, that efforts to investigate and expose it are met with violence too). Unfortunately, until they provide some evidence to the contrary, that's going to be the prevailing opinion.

Personally, I think we should pull out of a section of the country, so they can see what would happen if we pulled out completely. That section we leave will be invaded by competing factions, and the resulting violence might serve as a lesson to those who argue we need to leave immediately.

Answer 2

I think we need to look at history.
Even the brutal Assyrians had to divide the land to be ruled by two governors, one to rule Assur the other Babylonia.
The mass immigrations from other Arab nations in the 600's was not dispersed evenly, they tribalized in cities Baserha, Mosul and areas near Babylon. Because of these the powerful Ottoman Empire choose to run the region under three governors as well. This lasted from the 1400's until WWI when France and the British carved out what is now Iraq. From 1920 until Saddam's emergence in the 60's as Secretary General of the Ba'th party, the country was in near constant civil war.
Saddam replaced the former King in 1979, but civil war with the Kurds continued until Operation Dessert Storm.

My point? There has ALWAYS been a power vacuum there, if we leave we are just returning things to a norm established over 3000 years of history.

Answer 3

It's not clear that there will be a power vacuum. I think more likely the Shiite majority would simply solidify its power. The Sunnis would be the losers, and the Kurds would just try to maintain their own autonomous government as they have for the past 15 years. What we have to worry about is not so much a power vacuum but rather a continuation of civil war, and the possibility of creating another Iran. But it is also not clear whether staying in Iraq is helping prevent civil war or helping prevent another Iran. In fact a good case can be made that our presence is actually exacerbating these problems.

Dick Cheney knew that invading Iraq would be a quagmire for the US a long time ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-I

Answer 4

I have been reading the answers to your question and man is this an emotional topic. On the surface, some of the pull out arguments sound good. However in reality they would be disasterous for the USA and the people of Iraq.

Iran has already announced plans to have people go to Iraq and set up a state that hates the USA. So is a pullout a good thing. I highly doubt it.

Once we pull out, the terrorists will begin plotting ways to attack the USA homeland as well as our interest worldwide. They are not going to stop and they are not going to be peaceful. These people have an agenda and are not going to be satisfied until they accomplish their goals of forcing us all to convert to Islam. They also want to kill all of the Jewish people. This is a stated goal of Hezobollah, Al Quaeda, etc.

Religion is a personal choice and honestly, not going to happen to me or my family.

Answer 5

I think Ron Paul has it right. "Just come home".

Remember the same people that promised us a bloodbath if we leave are the same ones who said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

That's all we can do is leave. There IS NO WAY to win. If so, define the enemy and who will sign the unconditional surrender papers?

Regan had it right when he said "I can't understand the irrationality of middle eastern politics".

This war was not declared by congress, which is uncostitional. This war will last forever if we do not ever "Just come home". I do not want my sons to die overseas in some country that hates us just to save face and keep oil companies rich.

If we leave, we can then commit our troops to securing our borders. We will stop borrowing 3 billion a week from China.

Just please don't forget we are at war with a "Shadow enemy" not a government. We just can't go around the world toppling governments just to find needles in haystacks.

We also have to free up airlines so that pilots can have the 2nd honored and carry guns.

Answer 6

Frankly I am at a loss. I still don't understand why we are there except maybe to protect our oil interests since all the other proposed rationales appear to have been outright lies. But Hussein provided a counter balance to Al Qaeda and Iran which we have now demolished in addition to letting civil war pound the country. Are we responsible for cleaning up this mess even though we were duped into getting into it? I don't know. It's a conundrum to say the least.

Answer 7

If we leave before the Iraqi's can defend themselves,Iran WILL attack and restore order their way, a blood bath.
Iran wants to control the oil and sea ports,spread terrorism and destroy Isreal.
All part of their plan to bring about a world wide Islamic state.

Answer 8

Iraq always had a power vacuum. Always will. Now though, Iran is lying in wait to swoop in and claim the 'true believers', now that Saddam Hussein is gone.

How to pull out of Iraq? Simple: Just load up the troops and their stuff and ship them home. To paraphrase:

""Time to go on live peaceful in our nation that we were born in and go back to work.""

On a second thought, lets just stay there indefinitely, dump trillions of more dollars and subsidise Iraq'n Iran for generations. Maybe we'll get some oil out of the deal. Yeah, that's it... we'll get some oil out fo the new deal.

Answer 9

There already is a huge power vacuum and Iran has been the big winner... that's why Bush has given $20billion in weapons to Saudi and an additional $30billion in aid to Israel. Guess what that does? It sets up th exact same situation that has us in the mess we are in now... remember the Iran/Contra affair? We can't keep trying to play puppet master in the Middle East.

Answer 10

Dispite all of the ^^^Above^^^ "Doom & Gloom'ers"..who had already Lost/Given up the war even before it started have said.....Your statement is correct. Withdrawing now would be the WORST thing we could do.

Iraq's unstable government would collapse under Iran, Syria, and the other "Hard-line" Islamic states pressure/attracts.

The Islamic terrorists would have, once again, learned that...given enough time & bloodshead...the West will "Cut & Run" again...like it has in the past...making the world an even more dangerous place for any/all non-Islamic people/cultures/countries for the next 100+ years.

And, in the footsteps of the above "cause & effect" our children & grandchildren (And maybe their's as well!) will have to fight the fight(s), that we were too stupid to finish now....once and for all.

(Sarcasm mode/on) So Yes! Let's Pull our troops home! so that we can all go back to baking cookies & holding hands with our Islamic friends! (Sarcasm mode/off)

yeah, great idea.

T.S.