Should the US pull out its troops regardless of whether Iraq is ready to defend its people?

Yes

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by Samuilovna

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The US is supposed to put the interests of its people before those of other nations. Everyday Americans do not benefit from a War in Iraq. Saddam is dead. There are more terrorists living outside Iraq than inside. And the price of oil is still rising. Why continue fighting a losing battle? The Iraqis don't want our help, as the suicide bombings and other terrorist actions seem to demonstrate, so why don't we leave them to their own devices? Why should we wait for Iraq to be ready to defend its own people from themselves?

Think from an investment point of view. Time is money. The benefits of continuing the Iraqi War just don't exceed the cost. At this point, Iraq is just gobbling up American money, helping increase our national debt. (Considering how much of our national debt is owned by China, I'd worry more about China than Iraq.) America is paying for the American military officers and enlisted men stationed in Iraq, military supplies, aid to Iraqis, and the reconstruction of Iraq.

We did the same in Japan after World War II, but the Japanese didn't reward our efforts with suicide bombings and acts of terrorism. The Japanese learned what they could from us, became our trade partners, and managed to develop a leading world economy (probably because we sent them some of our most brilliant minds, such as Deming, and rebuilt their infrastructure, which is much more modern than that in America). Iraq has the chance of receiving the same benefits from American occupation as Japan, but is blowing it.

Think about why we withdrew from Vietnam. The war no longer served a purpose that justified its expense. In fact, the Vietnam War was the first American war to take place when the economy was not in a recession, and this may be a major reason why it stirred so much controversy. The Vietnam War messed up the US economy. Is the Iraqi War not doing the same? After all, we're at war, and we're battling inflation, while the president is spending a fortune on Iraq. Right now American money should be focused on internal issues, such as Social Security, Education, and paying off the national debt.

We are over-leveraged, and eventually there will come a point when we'll have no choice put to withdraw because we won't be able to afford financing the Iraqi War. We also won't be able to afford financing many internal programs, such a Social Security. And the cost-cutting efforts that ensue may result in a major restructuring of government bureaucracy.

For those crying that withdrawal makes us look weak, I have only one thing to say. It's better to look weak than to be weak, and draining our resources to finance the Iraqi war can make us weak in the long run. Oil may be black gold, but it has a finite life. Within a century or two at most, we're going to have no choice, but to shift to another energy source if we continue using up the world's oil reserves at the current rate, and that's going to be when the Middle East stops being important. Future generations will wonder why we wasted so many resources on such an insignificant region.

There comes a time when you just have to cut your losses. If the American Government were run like a business, the investment in Iraq would've been cut off long ago.

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