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| Yes | 57% | 1777 votes | Total: 3123 votes | |
| No | 43% | 1346 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesLet me first start off by saying that the War in Iraq is illegal, which basically ends the discussion; Constitutionally, we're not supposed to be in Iraq. Congress did not give a declaration of war, therefore it is unconstitutional and unjust, by American law and standards. It's a tyrannical and dangerous move by a blundering, blustering Bush administration. In the midst of a so-called "War on Terror", which started in Afghanistan(Why did we abandon the chase for Bin Laden again?) we go barreling into Iraq; Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with September 11th; Iraq was harboring no known terrorist cells; As a matter of fact, Saddam Hussein was opposed to terrorist regimes. Hussein was an awful person, a liar, and a sociopath; I'm thankful he's gone, but Saddam was not a legitimate threat, and he was not our problem; terrorists were.
With that said, why did we go in? Weapons of Mass Destruction, right? Well, as we all know, WPMD's were never uncovered.
Next, we stay there to find Saddam, because he is the "weapon of mass destruction". We find Saddam, jail Saddam, disband his regime and kill him. Still, we remain in Iraq. Why?
We're told that there are programs for WPMDs, whether these programs are biological, chemical or nuclear remains unknown, but our Government guaranteed to us these program's did existence. These programs aren't uncovered, ever. So now what is the new reasoning behind our perpetual occupation?
President Bush tells us we have to be humane, by funding and rebuilding the roads and bridges we destroyed bombing their country, which shouldn't have been bombed in the first place. Nation building, something completely against the Republican platform, and something President Bush promised us he would never do, when he ran for office. He decided to spend our Tax dollars rebuilding Iraq, while roads and bridges here, in America, crumble and collapse.
The final reason we're staying, is because we have to train their citizens. You know, they have to defend themselves against terror cells which weren't there before this disgusting war ever started. The Iraqi war started in March 2003; we've been training their citizens ever since. How much more time do they need? Does the greatest military force on the planet not possess the ability to train these men and women, when our longest boot camp(Marines), lasts only twelve weeks? I fail to find the truth or logic in this.
We're losing lives, just to save face: We went into this war on faulty intelligence, yet we remain there. Absolutely ridiculous.
Congressm an Ron Paul said: "When we make a mistake, it is the obligation of the people through their representatives to correct the mistake, not to continue the mistake"
Over 5,000 Americans have been killed and over 20,000 have been injured. How many of our brave men and women must we bury? How many families do we have to see shed heart-wrenching, unnecessary tears? How many people do we have to see come home with limbs missing, blind, crippled, or shell shocked? This has to come to an end.
We're going bankrupt, we can't afford this war. The American dollar is crashing, and the middle class is being completely wiped out. We're borrowing twenty percent of every dollar we spend overseas from foreign countries. We're borrowing upwards of 1-3 billion dollars per week, from China. Can you explain to me how we are spreading peace in Iraq, while we borrow money from a nation like China? China is a communist nation, which has a military which marches into Tibet on any given Sunday, mercilessly raping their women, pillaging their cities and shedding their blood. This is an atrocity and a disgrace. Even our outstanding "economic stimulus package" is money borrowed from the Chinese(but we'll save that topic for another day). What's going to happen when China wants their funding back? We either give them land here, or we go to war with them. This problem is not going away, it's only escalating. And that, to me, is startling and alarming, to say the least.
The people of Iraq don't want us there, at all; it couldn't be more obvious: On September 27, 2006, Amit R. Paley, of the Washington post, wrote an article showing the majority of Iraqi's wanting the US and other foreign countries off of their land. Seventy-five percent of the residents polled in Baghdad said they wanted the US to exit. Sixty-five percent of them wanted America to pull out immediately. In another poll, seventy-one percent of Iraqi's wanted the Iraqi Government to ask the United States and all other foreign countries to pack up and leave. They want their country back, and they don't believe we're helping them...who are we to argue? They live there, we don't, so let's give them their country back. Let us defend our borders by bringing our men and women home. Let us focus on getting our sagging economy in good-working order, again. Iraq is NOT Americas problem. It's time to come home.
Thank you for reading.
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No
Oh sure, and while we're at it why not bomb the Iraqi people on our way out.
We should never pull our troops out of Iraq. As a matter of fact we should be working to establish a permanent American military base on Iraqi soil like we have in other countries. We want a long term working relationship with Iraq not a short term presence.
If Iraq ever gets it's act together, which I think they eventually will, then wouldn't it be great to have a partnership with them than to have to worry every time they have an election whether or not they are going to go find different friends that aren't necessarily friendly to us.
Look at the relationships we have with Germany and Japan today. Do you seriously think either of those countries want to severe their relationship with the United States? It's because of the United States that their citizens are free today. It's because of the United States that they are both an economic power in the world today. How about South Korea? The only reason the citizens of South Korea aren't all rice farmers for the North is because of the United States' presence.
Germany and Japan aren't bad duty stations for our troops today. Some military folks even request these duty stations. How great would it be if the day came that our troops wanted to pull a tour in Iraq. If Iraq settled down like Germany and Japan it would be pretty cool to be able to travel around Iraq and see things like Babylon, to visit the archaeological sites of the beginning of civilization. There is so much history in Iraq it's unbelievable.
Now what would happen if we established a permanent military presence in Iraq? Well let's add it up. The Iraqi people would get to know Americans for who and what we really are, other than as occupying troops. They would get to know Americans in a time of peace and stability and would soon realize that we are the most generous, humorous, craziest people on earth. They would learn that even with all our faults we are people of real character and moral fiber. They would see that these traits are present not just in our older men and women but that it is prevalent amongst our young people. The eighteen to twenty some year olds. The youth of our nation. The ones they will have a relationship throughout their lifetimes and their children's lifetimes. They will establish lifelong friendships and a mutual trust. They will have ensured the security of their nation because there is no way we would allow another nation to invade them if we have troops permanently stationed there. They would be our allies. We would have an agreement of mutual protection and respect.
What do we get out of it? We get a permanent presence in the Middle East. We get a permanent staging area if necessary to deal with other rogue nations. We get the benefit of being able to increase our human intelligence capabilities in the Middle East. We establish personal relationships with the Iraqi people that ensures our relationship with the Iraqi government. We get cheaper gas.
What else do the Iraqi's get? They get economic stability. They get to sell us stuff and we get to sell them stuff. They get to be tourists in America and we get to be tourists in Iraq, which quite frankly will bring them a ton of income coming into their country when you consider everything involved in supporting the tourist trade. Universities will pour money into Iraq just to be able to go there to study archaeological sites without having to worry about getting blown up in the process.
The money that will flow between our countries would be unbelievable. The improvement in the quality of life for the average Iraqi citizen would be unreal.
The money to be made by U.S. Corporations exporting to Iraq would be an economic boon to the United States.
We should defend the Iraqi citizens until they are able to do it themselves and then still keep a presence there just in case they need us. There is no downside to staying.
Besides all the above, we made a promise to the Iraqi people. We cannot and should not renege on that promise. We sure as hell should have learned something from our withdrawal from Vietnam. We can never, ever do that again. From this day forward when the United States of America tells a nation of people that we will stand with them if they will stand with us then under no circumstances, whatsoever, can we abandon them, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how expensive it gets. Our word absolutely must be good. No matter what the price. The rest of the world must learn that when the United States of America promises to stand with a nation, we mean it and we will back it up. Mess with them, you mess with us, and we will kick your ass.
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