The disagreement between Obama and McCain over the issue of Iraq troop withdrawal is important and will create the public's perceptions of the next president. Both candidates have been polar opposites before the war and to this day regarding the issue of troop withdrawal. In 2002, as the nation was forming its opinions on the need to invade Iraq, McCain voted for the war, giving President Bush the power to invade Iraq, which the senate now regrets. Obama on the other hand, opposed the war from the start.
Despite our opinions on the war, often we forget about the troops and what they might want, for example returning back home to their friends and families. Even though it is their job to serve the country, because the war is wrong, it is a disservice to them. The troops are there sacrificing their lives because they believe it is their duty to serve and honor the country. Even though they are not forced to be there, the point is that they shouldn't be there fighting a war that is unjust because all the reasons for going there proved to be a mistake, there was no prove of any WMD programs and no Iraq link to 9/11 or Al Qaeda.
Although this might sound Anti-American, the US may go as far as being viewed as imperialist, wanting to solve other countries' problems before we solve our own national problems. An example would be forcing democracy on countries that don't want it. Back before the war, the Sunni and Shiite religious groups, though politically very different, were living in pseudo-peace when Saddam was in power. When Saddam was in power there were no large scale fights, but with his removal those two fractions started fighting and the Iranians started getting involved to further their own interests and destabilize the region. Even though we went in with the right intentions, alternative measures, such as diplomacy agreement would have been better than the invasion because we aggravated the situation in Iraq, which we ought to end by "encouraging the Iraqi government to step up."
Obama is correct; we should withdrawal our troops, 'with careful pace,' because we are fighting a war we should have never started. McCain takes the issue personal, wants to stay and win the war at all cost, which he has not calculated and he has not offered a strategy to exit. In the long run, McCain's plan could hurt us as we could be there indefinitely.
5 comments:
This is a good post overall, and you did a good job in showing evidence of information. I don't think that US soldiers feel that it is a burden for them to be over in Iraq when they are fighting for their country. I'm sure that soldiers are wanting to get back home and see their families, but they also want to fight for their country and want to finish the job in Iraq because that is their mission.
son of ander, I understand where your are coming from and I did not say it was a burden for them. The point is that they are fighting a war that shouldn't be fought, at present can you state any direct goal to why we are in Iraq? also given that the reasons for going in Iraq were big errors, don't you think it is a mistake we are there?
I am also so tired of being called unpatriotic, and worse accused of not supporting our troops just because I don't agree with the reason why we started the war in the first place. Obama is being accused for the same reasons and it is unconscionable.
From an outsider's view, I used to believe that America did this to show their power over the world. Because they are Americans, they can do whatever they want. People in the rest of the world have no choice but to accept American government's decision. That's unfair. Iraq war is not a good decision. If this is a just war, then why innocent people are getting hurt. We are all human beings, not Americans or Iraqis. Everyone has home and family. I can't see why people are continuing this war when everyone is suffering loss.
I agree with most of what you said but there are some things that I would like to point out.
Although Obama has not supported the war from the beginning, in 2002 only 23 senators voted no for entering the war. Many of those who voted yes regret it now. I think it is important to know that Obama was not in the Senate at the time and although it was easy not to support the war once we realized we had been lied to and there were no wmd, it was not such a popular view in 2002 when this war began.
I also think that Saddam did need to be taken out of power. He led an extremely oppressive regime. But we did it all wrong. I don't know what the right thing to do was. I am sure if we had assassinated him and put our own guy in charge we would have found someone who would allow us to use Iraq for selfish reasons.
I agree with you and Son of Ander about the feelings of soldiers because I am sure every soldier feels differently because they are all in very different situations. Some want to stay and some just want to come home.
Besides those few points though, I really agree with what you are saying.
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