Debate grows over keeping troops in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

Debate grows over keeping troops in Iraq
By Lara Jakes - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 12, 2010 16:58:48 EDT

BAGHDAD — As the U.S. winds up combat operations in Iraq this month, a gap is widening between the militaries of both countries and their political masters over whether American soldiers should stay beyond the 2011 deadline for a complete U.S. troop withdrawal.

~snip~

A security agreement between the two nations calls for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. By Sept. 1, only 50,000 American soldiers will remain in the country, their combat authority strictly curtailed in the largest step to date toward the 2011 deadline.

Mindful of their campaign promises, both Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and aides to President Barack Obama this week declared that this summer’s withdrawal indeed marks the beginning of the end of U.S. troops in Iraq.

“This commitment will end on the scheduled date, as agreed,” al-Maliki said Thursday at a meeting of Iraqi defense officials in Baghdad.

Not so fast, said Gen. Babaker Shawkat Zebari, the Kurd who commands Iraq’s military, warning again Wednesday that his army may not be ready to defend the nation until 2020.

[fogonthelake]

1. We will be there like we are in Korea. Name changed to peacekeepers.

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[KharmaTrain]

3. The "Perks" Of Empire

If we use the barometer of the military and the politicians (many who are getting big coin contributions from Defense Contractors and other corporate welfare babies) we'll never be able to withdraw or even scale down. Ya never know when the next nasty A-rab is gonna try to fly an airplane into your head.

Two things will decide this situation and neither are in the control of the government or military. First are the Iraqi people...the ones we've imposed on and now are fighting among themselves as they always have. There will come a time where one of these groups will rise up over the others and our troops will be caught in the middle of yet another civil war. The longer we remain, the more likely this will happen.

Then there's the economics of it. This country is broke. Right now it's an outrage that we're spending billions on these wars for profit yet can't afford to pay teachers, firefighters and police. Congress can come up with billions of borrowed money to keep the coffers of Blackwater and General Dynamics bulging while the American people get less and less. Eventually the money will run out or the debt will get so high that it will incapacitate the military as our economy reaches third world levels. It was the economics that led to the Soviets getting out of Afghanistan...and this will be our fate as well.