U.S. strategies in Iraq are failing for a multitude of reasons:
(1) Not enough troops were committed to secure Baghdad. Furthermore, there was not a comprehensive plan in place to take care of Baghdad's security when the invasion began. American forces have been unable to secure Baghdad. Attacks occur in the "green" safe zone. What makes us think that the military will be able to secure the entire country?
(2) The war has been a diplomatic disaster. With the widespread disapproval of the war from nations around the world, the low support of the Iraq War in the polls, the president's terrible approval ratings, rising tensions and violence in Iraq, the threat of Iran and North Korea as nuclear powers, and the Republican defeats in the midterm elections; the situation in Iraq looks worse than ever before. The outcome seems certain and there may be little that the strongest nation in the world can do about it.
(3) The troop surge is too small. What about the troop surge? Couldn't the addition of 20,000 U.S. troops stabilize the nation? No. An incremental increase of such a small amount of troops will not prevent a wider conflict.Tragically, it is pretty easy to predict the outcome of the war in Iraq. Iraq is already the site of a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites. Iran is sending money, agents, and supplies to the Shiite forces. Saudi Arabia supports the Sunnis. Furthermore, the Kurds could also become in the fighting. Once U.S. forces leave the country the situation will only grow worse.
Suspected Sunni insurgents killed 215 in Baghdad. To make matters worse, the three car bombs that killed over 200 people, were most likely planted by Al-Qaeda. The next day, Shiites responded by burning alive six Sunnis with kerosene. Despite the presence of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces, thousands of Iraqis have died near Baghdad this year. Nearby Iraqi solders failed to intervene. With the widespread disapproval of the war from nations around the world, the low support of the Iraq War in the polls, the president's terrible approval ratings, rising tensions and violence in Iraq, the threat of Iran and North Korea as nuclear powers, and the Republican defeats in the midterm elections; the situation in Iraq looks worse than ever before. The outcome seems certain and there may be little that the strongest nation in the world can do about it.
(4) A low-grade civil war is taking place in Iraq. Sunnis and Shiites are killing each other each day in Iraq.
(5) The United States should not have invaded Iraq in the first place. The invasion did not deal with the greatest threats. President Bush in the State of the Union identified three rogue nations that sponsored terrorism and threatened the national interests of the United States. However, four years the United States foreign policy has focused on Iraq, and Iran and North Korea were almost completely ignored.
The United States military invaded Iraq and overthrew Hussein, but Iran and North Korea have been developing nuclear weapons and now North Korea is testing their nuclear weapons. The United States invaded a nation that was thought to have WMDs, but now we know that Iran and North Korea have nuclear technology and Hussein never developed nuclear weapons.
(6) President Bush has used a business as usual approach. The president spent three weeks discussing the problems in Iraq with experts and then he settled on a business as usual policy. President Bush will send another 20,000 troops to Iraq, but 20,000 troops won't change much.
President Bush should have decisively taken a position. If he wants to increase troop levels in Iraq, then he should have called for an additional 100,000 troops. Early in the war, commentators, experts, and many other Americans warned Bush that he should have invaded with more troops. There simply have not been enough troops on the ground to get the job done.