Is there a purpose for our troops being in Iraq?
471846
There are three reasons for being in Iraq:\n\n1. Oil\n2. Oil\n3. OIL!\n\nOther than that, there is oil.\n\nIn a speech on campus last night Dinesh D'sousa, a prior advisor to the Regan administration explained the distance between political rhetoric of the Republican party and action.  The REAL reasons for war in Iraq, according to D'sousa is\n\n1. Oil.  Oil prices are low because we have bullied them low through military action.\n\n2. End the sanctions against Iraq which had killed hundreds of thousands of children, yet not budged SH.\n\n3. Send a message to terrorists and their sponsors that the US will respond with force and has the will to fight (we can safely assume that anyone promoting people flying aircraft to kill innocent people in the name of war are psychopaths, no matter what the human tools were programmed to believe)\n\n4. Containment of the anti-US Iran, which is viewed as the real top terrorist investor, but usually manages to avoid creating the public situation in which there is a political premise for war.  Basically, while we are engaged in hot conflicts in neighboring states, we have technically been in a state of cold war with Iran for over a decade...  (consider long-term trends with other countries the US refused to recognize).\n\n5. We are likewise in an undeclared cultural war with a significant segment of the Islamic world that does not appreciate religious diversity or liberalism and would happily have your head chopped off if you suggested gay marriage be ok, or that all groups be treated fairly, or that women be treated with respect and "equality."  It is, as with the Cold War, the result of two incompatible worldviews struggling on this level for world domination.\n\nA MAJOR weakness of his arguements was this:\n\nA problem of promoting real democracy in the middle east is that middle east democracies have tended to support the kind of regimes that are hostile to the US!  As a result, the US has often supported liberal dictators over Islamic fundamentalist elected officials.  In a way, this is not so different of an attitude within the US of Democratic party supporters being angry at the "bad decision" of many other US citizens.  Democracy isn't necessarily what we hope it would be over there either.  So - here is the part he did not state - how does it make sense to try to build democracy in Iraq if the majority of Iraq is muslim and muslims have been hostile to the US?\n\nAs I had argued LONG before troops were deployed, there were better, or at least more plausable, reasons to attack Iraq and occupy it for the time.  These reasons also indicate that we can expect to have a base in Iraq for a long time.\n\nAnother reason why the US are over there:\n\nCurrently 80% of the country is allied to the US.  The remaining 20% (Bathists) are bitter about being removed from power and is the remaining opposition force, with far smaller numbers actually fighting.  So if we leave, we let down 80% of Iraq to accomodate an abusive minority group (how else did SH maintain power?).\n\nNow do I LIKE it?  No.  Is it practical?  Maybe not, but those are the reasons why the US is in Iraq today.  I certainly hate the idea of vulturous investors getting rich on weapons and oil stocks.  Then there are people like Michael Moore joining in on the investing... Well, can I blame them if nobody is going to stop it?  I don't know how to stop them myself, so I just tell them they are wrong to profit from someone else's misery...\n\nLike the detractors to the idea of there being WMDs in Iraq, D'sousa had the advantage of speaking from hindsight.  My own opinions that reflected *some* of these arguments - that the UN sanctions were unethical and untenable in particular - were presented in a public forum even on the very day that Bush publicly announced the invasion.  I guess that's what I get for not copywriting and demanding I am properly cited.  (shrugs)\n\nPS.  It is because o
1161510
Are you implying that supporting our troops who are over there is stupid and wrong???  If so, I hope I never meet you face to face.  War, is war, is war.  However, you should support your troops who are over there fighting and dying so that you can spit on them, their memory, their efforts, and their sacrifices.  The least you can do is have a LITTLE faith in the brave men and women  who are fighting so that you can say retarded crap like that.
567408
Yes, Everyone dies, some things are worth fighting for, and a Higher percentage of Iraqis want us in Iraq than Americans.\n\nTo all those who "support the troops but not the war"\n\nWe do not want your support, so please shut up and stop undermining our operations.
665489
When thier mission has been accomplished. Often the end result of a war is not known till many years after the fact. We should have ended this the first time we dealt with Iraq in the 90's. We prematurely withdrew then, and it is imperative that we stick this one throught to the end...whenever that may be. Support our troops! They are the very life-blood of this country! Let them know that thier efforts are not in vain and that they are very much needed and appreciated!!! For those of you who fear for the loss of American lives...yes, weep for them, mourn them...but it was a choice they made when they enlisted, so support the decision that they have made and support them!
28748
The war is currently to stabilize Iraq,and basically to get a friendly presence in a very unstable and dangerous part of the world. As for why the troops are not home yet - If the US leaves now, Iraq will fall into complete chaos. The problem is 1. stay, and bear the brunt of the attacks by insurgents, or 2. leave, and let the country fall into complete chaos until some powerful warlord eventually unifies and takes over iraq.
941603
Yes I think we will, We are now in the breach of WW3, for all those who don't believe me. Believe me its true, I am in Iraq right now, all this is is the beginning of World War 3 and we can't even see it with our own eyes. Africa is starting to heat up, North Korea shooting missiles, Iran shooting missiles, Syria wanting to over run Iraq why we are in here. This is all on the breach of another major war. And we Americans don't have enough troop to handle it compared to all the other countries millions of millions of troops that are belonging to their army. Thats why I think we need more troops to sign up. Just my opinion, nothing serious.
812496
no, because they AIN'T GONNA BE COMING HOME! at least not for a while. believe it or not, o uneducated one, the troops are protecting us all.
715495
I saw that the other night, and think it is a fantastic idea.\n\nIf they wan't us to leave, I would have no problem with our troops leaving.  If they want us to stay, the libs would have to shut the hell up with their b.s.\n\n---\n\ncosmico, an empty bottle of whisky\n\n---\n\nlook at all the libs that don't want the iraqi's to vote.  Interesting.
850376
No...and why would we ask?  I can figure out why some other middle east countries and even a couple of European countries might consider asking them to "help".\n\nBut my bet is that there are hundreds (at least) of people from both those countries already in Iraq.  And I doubt they are helping to rebuild schools or hospitals.
751527
Arcane are you  crazy?  Their are a lot more modernized middle eastern countries that Iraq.  I have been to a couple different countries and I saw nothing that even Iraq.  You need to know what you are talking about before you start saying stuff like that.  One other thing I want to tell you about.  If the Iraqis didn't want us there all they had to do is run us out,  but they are going through what we did  in our civil war, Losing life's, homes, family and what not they know that it is a necessary evil but most of them are ready for a change.  There have been more business open up in the last year than any other year in their history.  Soon as they can show that their military is able and willing we will be out but no sooner.  It would be a disgrace to the US and its people if we left now and let total hell rain down upon them.
533403
The Iraqi people don't want the US there. The US is well overdue to come home. The soldiers are just doing their job, granted. But there is a distinct line between  a false liberation and an illegal occupation.
122731
A better question would be why we're in Iraq in the first place.\n\nI still don't know.
814705
The reason we are in Iraq is to free the Iraqi people and allow them to govern themselves. There are not sufficient skilled people in Iraq to get that nations infra-structure up and running. Security is a primary concern but getting Iraq functional is absolutely necessary. Contractors are brought in by the Iraqi government to accomplish this.
921341
They are towards leaving Iraq.  They really don't have a plan right now.  They wanted to use scare tactics against Americans, so they get the vote.  As of now, I haven't heard any plans yet.
741017
David,\nWanting the troops to come home is good thing.  Wanting them to come home before they have chance to finish a job that they have been given is not so good.  I hate to say it, but there is a mess over there now and to fix it is going to take a lot more troops.\n\nI don't like being away from my family.  But the job needs to be done and it needs to be done right.  I believe in doing something right the first time because you may not get a second chance.\n\nIf we were to bring all the troops home now there would be a lot more trouble and a lot more innocent people killed.  I don't believe that I will be going over there for the third time because of patriotism and freedom of Americans.  I do it to protect my fellow service members and those innocent Iraqi's that as of yet can't defend themselves.\n\nI hope this helps.
342454
Well, that's a complicated question and it's not possible to answer it in a paragraph. The US does have military presence in nearly every country on earth. Sometimes it's by our choice, and sometimes it's by the other country's choice. It's difficult to say whether it's good or bad because there are a variety of reasons we are in particular countries. For example, we are helping to protect South Korea from the North Korean government. But I think we have no legitimate reason to be in Iraq.
697581
We will be there until the Government is stable and their military is effective.  The best way to succeed in this is to increase troop presence, but good luck with that...\n\nIf we had sent the proper ammount of troops in the first place and the administration listened to the Generals on the ground, this would have been nearly over...