Feb 27 2009
Troop Withdrawal Report
Obama finally announced his plan for US troop withdrawal in Iraq. By August of next year, troop levels are supposed to have decreased to 50,000, from the 142,000 that are there today. Those 50,000 will remain until the end of 2011. Iraq has an agreement with the United States, set up by the Bush administration, saying that all US forces must leave the country by that time. Obama called August 2010 the official end of the war. But as Nancy Pelosi pointed out, how does this make any sense when we still have such a large number of troops there - aren’t we still the dreaded occupiers? I think the answer is the same as its been - no answer, stay vague. Keep the fog of ambiguity going, leave nothing tangible to argue against, and you can move on your path because nobody can stop you, nobody can touch you.
The whole big Blah we’ve been doing in the Middle East is just that. Is it a war? Two wars? Two conflicts? One worldwide fight against terrorism? A tactical move for oil, for a strategic location? Or are we defending something here? During the Bush years, the money spent on the Blah wasn’t even included in the budget. We invaded Iraq because of the alleged actions of a Saudi living somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan, going after a man who we supported back when he was fighting Iran. We’ve tied a knot around the region that just won’t come undone.
In response to Obama’s announcement - Republicans were pleased, Democrats were mildly critical, and even Al-Jazeera reported a Sunni leader as saying, “To withdraw troops and leave Iraq in chaos would affect the reputation of the US in the world.” Many have praised Obama for being “responsible”, and others have called him out for doing “not enough”. There is no question though that there is a mess, caused by the Blah, and one day we’re going to forget what started this whole thing in the first place.
