I think Obama had no choice. Iraq would not grant immunity to the 5,000 we wanted to leave there. Screw iraq then
Sounds to me like we were just kicked out by Malaki. I sure hope that every last cent of foreign aid to Iraq just got shut down.
Remember when we were being lead into Iraq and were told that the war would pay for itself and that it would last "six days, six weeks ... I doubt six months."? And then how, almost immediately, 12 billion dollars in cash disappeared without a trace, right off an airplane, right off the bat? Seems like just yesterday.
You guys do realize that all of the weapons and ingredients for WMD were moved in 2000-2002 from Iraq to Libya. When we invaded Iraq, Quaddafi said he didn't want that to happen to him and lo and behold, he gave them up to get in the US's good graces......
The fact that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction was a surprise to our vice president,but not our whole intelligence community. I can't remember where, but I imagine it was Time or Newsweek, that reported Saddam Hussein actually that he had WMDs. The people responsible for developing them didn't tell the truth because they were afraid too.
Obviously no one cares, but does anyone disagree that Saddam used mustard gas (a WMD) on the Kurds? I mean, we have video evidence of it but it might be like the 9/11 truthers or something. If we know he used the gas against the Kurds, do we think he just ran out? Used them all up and forgot the recipe? He had 2 years to squirrel anything he had away. I still think that was a bad reason for a war, but he didnt lie about it.
To the OP, didn't I already read this a month or 2 ago? Perhaps it is official now but I don't think this is really new news. This has been the plan and I think most of us our glad as hell to hear it.
pharm actually the plan was to withdraw all but about 5,000. The problem is obama asked for immunity for the 5k troops remaining ( which is exactly what he should have done) The iraqi gov't refused so BO will bring them all back. I think it is the right thing to do
Glad this nightmare is ending. We should get the hell out of Afghanistan ASAP also. Longest war in U.S. history.
Roma- You may very well be right about Iraq's capabilities or lach thereof. However, Saddam had already demonstrated a willingness to attack (Kuwait) and a willingness to deal with anyone who had money. As I said, I dont think mustard gas was a sufficient reason to start a war. But, if terrorists were to get a hold of it and unleash it in high population areas, it could have been extrememly messy. Bottom line, there is no denying that Saddam had the means to use them, he already proved he was willing to use them and he was already proven to attack other countries. He was in flagrant violation of the peace demands he agreed to. It was a bad, bad situation. Folks were a little jumpy after 9/11. Several mustard gas cannisters set off in shopping malls around the USA would have been deadly to our economy. From your own link, thousands of Iranians had been gassed by Saddam. Just because the Iranian govt doesnt care about their people doesnt mean the USA shouldnt. I kind of doubt the acertion that they had no way to transport it, but they of course were working on it. Again, a bad deal and tough call. I dont think war was warranted, but I can appreciate the argument and loathe the hindsight second guessers (not accusing you of this btw).
Will obamites vbe stupid enough to hail this as an BO victory/ When did BO promise to withdraw troops from Iraq? 16 monts after taking office? Which would have been ? april 2010 when did bush announce withdrawl of troops from iraq> Dec 2011 When did Bush announce this? 2008 Who was right?
It is surely a good thing. Didn't happen as quickly as Obama may have called for earlier but that is reality. And he did the right thing in making sure it happened in the right away. Now if McCain were voted in last election we would still be in Iraq for an unspecified period of time. So when you look at it that way it was a victory for those who voted for BO in part b/c they wanted him to withdraw troops from Iraq. And then there is the little factoid that he was not part of reason that sent the troops there in error in the 1st place. Another part of mess he has been cleaning up that he didn't create. So I don't blame him for the manner in which he cleaned it up seeing that he was just a little more conservative with the timeline. Actually that should be something that you give him props for.