Should the United States pull out of Iraq?
449474
I think so.. its time for our troops to come home now!
335412
Thats a loaded question ;) \n\nI think that we now must stay and finish the reconstruction and occupation of Iraq to avoid a messy withdrawl that will lead to a power vacuum and civil war in the heart of the middle east. Regardless of how you feel about the war before hand, It's important to realize that a US defeat or withdrawl could have dramatic and long lasting negative effects on the US.\n\nThe Vietnam comparison doesn't hold too much water for two reasons, 1) The US withdrawl from South Vietnam was followed by the North overruning the South. This prevented a power struggle or civil war and was, ironically, able to provide some order to a chaotic situation. 2) A large component of the insurgency (An estimated 1/3 ) is now Al Qaeda, I'm not saying that they were there before I'm simply saying they are there now and are working to force an American withdrawl. They even boast about this on propoganda tapes. They are, unlike the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, an organization that is actively at war with the United States (was before the war in Iraq and will be after) and would like nothing better then to send a middle eastern nation into chaos so they can use it as a place to retrain, refurbish and catch their breath after losing a similiar base in Afghanistan that they had before the Taliban lost power.\n\nI personally think we need to establish a table for leaving Iraq based not on chronological deadlines (a poor plan that is inviting disaster the moment the deadline passes and US Troops leave) but instead on tangible results. Like for every 3 Iraqi Army Battalions to reach full operational ability we should withdrawl 1 US Battalion. \n\nThis avoids the dilemna of just saying "lets stay until we're through" which opens the door to a endless occupation but also makes success in Iraq a tangible thing that can be monitored and achieved in due time.
1168451
What I think we should do as far as a serious answer goes is: equip the Iraqi "army" with some modern equipment.  We then give the Iraqi government a 1 billion dollar loan.  We start to pull troops out at a rate of 100 per week.  By the time we get out the politicians will have agreed to this new idea.  Allow the Iraqis to pay back their loan in a steady river of oil until we all switch to something new.  The Iraqi people would be grateful and the government would become our strongest ally.  Iran would then try to make Iraq more like it, but we will be liked more.  We will economically be in a better position and there would be nothing to complain about.  The Iraqis will be able to defend themselves and it should all be good.
457997
I think the end of 2008 is when the U.S. military should start leaving.  The Iraqi military will be in control of 75% of Iraq at the end of the summer and probably 90 something percent at the end up 2008.  They could finish it from there.
18552
They have caused enough problems over there. If they want to continue getting killed and continue killing then they should stay. If they really are seeking democracy for Iraq (which is none of their business in the first place) then they should leave now and let the Iraqis govern themselves and set up a new constitution and start living a normal sovereign life like any country !
705434
While I am not serving actively now I am a veteran.  You need to change your statement to 'some' of the soldiers fighting over there understand.  There are many who do not believe we should be in Iraq.  There are many who do not believe Iraq is a true part of the war on terror.  Afghanistan is part of that war but we are not putting anywhere near as much support into that war now.\n\nIt is not reasonable to state that if we pull out of Iraq the Sunnis, Shia's and Kurds will come here to fight.  These people are fighting for superiority or seperate statehood in Iraq.  They would have nothing to gain by coming here.  As for the real trerrorist organizations?  Our presence there may make it easier for them to fight us close to their homes but don't kid yourself, that will not stop them from attempting to hit us here.  whether we stay there or not that will always be a danger.
707275
I'd love to see our troops come home and they can , just as soon as your government can stand by itself .\nRight now , you have a lot of trouble because different factions want to rule the country . Some would be new dictatorships if they won .\nIf we pulled out , next week , you'd have a full blown civil war that would last for years . You could end up with someone a lot worse than Saddam .\nThe key is for all the people of Iraq to learn to live and work together as equals , not as Shia , Sunni and Kurds ,but as Iraqis .
933682
Remember we have a thousand year of history behind us and have survived and co-exsisited. Saddam was installed in power by the Americans. He was financed and armed by the US(to combat Iran). We now have another American puppet in power. Then we paid the price of America's mistakes and today again we are paying the price of America's mistakes with our lives. All we want is America to get out of Iraq and we will solve our own problems. The sectarian violence will not cease unless American's leave our country. They are doing more harm tham good with there presence. Dont they realise, we dont want there "democracy" or way of life. Just let us be. We dont need any help from the Americans. GET OUT OF IRAQ NOW.
1118651
The war in Iraq will end when the new Iraqi government can maintain what we have built for them. It does no good to pull out if the Iraqi Army and governement isnt ready to shoulder the load. If we leave before that time then we will have to come back and clean up the mess again. If we had eliminated the problem in 1991 then we wouldn't be here now. But we listened to the infinite wisdom of the United Nations.
385204
Even if we pull our combat troops out today, the Iraqui military is still going to need logistical support for a long time. American troops will be there for at least a decade.
857477
I would love to say yes it is. But we can't leave now with the mess Iraq is in. I don't think we should have ever gone over there, we did. We can't leave them with this Chaos,  they have nothing in place to deal with any of this violence.We have to finish what we started. If we leave now, it only makes us look worse than we already look. I think it will be a long time before our troops can come home, unfortunately.
726502
We could pull out and let them dip into a civil war, or stay there and let our troops endure the war.  We should not have gone there in the first place, and if we felt we had no choice, we shouldn't have bombed them back to the stone age.\n\nAny way you look at it, the Iraqi's lose.
875057
There would be utter chaos. Their government is not strong enough to support itself and there would be groups trying to overthrow it. It would just lead to more violence than there is now. This is just a big mess that the United States has gotten itself into. There is nothing more we can do there but if we pull out it would probably be worse than it was before we went in. There's just no answer for how to solve this problem.
889180
Yes, and it's actually quite simple. Give the Iraqi government a SPECIFIC deadline to withdraw coalition troops and stick to it. They are not holding up their end of the deal. They think if they continue to appear weak and in distress that we will stay inevitably, and we seem to be falling into that trap. Our administration needs to get a clue that they are really being played by these people. How's April 1st. No Foolin'.
1094014
Their policy is to try to stay as long as possible and hope that something good happens. Unfortunately for everyone, no one in the administration has any military experience and knows little about military tactics or the mid-east. Recently 100 experts in military tactics were polled and 86% of them said that the Iraq war in unwinable at this point. Any of these "positive" developments in Iraq that we sometimes hear about are usually token victories, which are blown out of proportion by the media and the administration. \n\nAt this point, the best bet for Iraq and the U.S. is for all of our troops to be pulled out and let the Iraqis determine their own fate. The U.S. presence there is only deteriorating the situation.
128807
Not for years.  The governments of too many surrounding countries have far too much to loose if Iraq becomes a stable democratic state so they will continue to fund and encourage the "insurgents".  However, the violence should lessen as the new government gets organized and the USA starts pulling out.
14666
If you want my honest opinion the US is in too deep to pull out in the near future.  I don't think we should have invaded Iraq at all.  If we had wanted to take care of Saddam we should have done it back during the Gulf War but George Bush Sr. was too much of a...yeah anyway, the future of Iraq is occupation by US led coalition forces.