Everyone has an opinion about the war in Iraq. Whether you’re for or against the war on terror and the occupation of Iraq, you probably care about the welfare of our troops fighting there. You also probably want the troops to come home from Iraq as soon as possible. But how soon is that?
According to the Iraq Study Group, all U.S. combat brigades should be out of Iraq before the close of the first quarter of 2008. For some, this is still not soon enough and for others, it is a step in the right direction.
Again, regardless of which stance you may take, you’re not being given the whole story. The problem is that this is misleading to most Americans. Semantics such as “combat brigades” leave options open for other troops deemed as “support” to still be stuck in Iraq.
Not only are all of our troops not actually going to make it out of Iraq, but more are going to be sent in – approximately five times more. Instead of 4,000 army troops embedded in Iraq, this number will be increased to 20,000. This doesn’t exactly seem like the exit strategy we need. Usually when more troops arrive, it’s considered an entrance, not an exit.
While these troops will focus on support of Iraqi security forces, Iraq itself will be responsible for primary combat. This is a very dangerous equation. Not only are we going to send more soldiers into Iraq, but they’re no longer going to have the combat jurisdiction they currently have. Limiting the capabilities of our soldiers is a bad idea, especially if the Iraqi government is not ready to handle this burden. Things could potentially get even more dangerous for our troops if they are in the middle of a situation that they have even less control over.
The ISG reported that Iraq is a grave and deteriorating situation and that the U.S. influence there is diminishing and violence is increasing. It doesn’t sound like it’s the right time to take power away from our military.
The ISG offers no promises or guarantees for its recommendations saying, “No course of action in Iraq is guaranteed to stop a slide toward chaos.”
Aside from this, the commissioners agree that the goal of U.S. policy in Iraq should be to get Iraq to govern, sustain and defend itself by itself. This, of course, is President Bush’s goal and will ultimately be the solution to the situation in Iraq. But sending more troops is not going to help Iraq get on its feet. There are already 140,000 troops currently in Iraq, and we don’t know the date of their departure. Adding more soldiers is not going to help Iraq be able to defend itself from its own terrorists.
The only way Iraq has any hope of sustaining itself is by slowly removing our presence there until – before anyone realizes it, mainly the terrorists – we are no longer there.
Luckily, the ISG realizes that sending another 100,000 troops is not the answer to the problem. But what we also need to realize is that sending any more troops to Iraq is not the answer either. Until we can start diminishing our presence there, Iraq will be a stalemate and our soldiers will be locked in limbo. The sooner we start bringing the men and women who have defended our country home, the sooner Iraq will be on its way to self-sustaining peace. Luckily, Bush doesn’t agree with every proposal the ISG has made. But unfortunately, he has rejected any timetables for troop drawdowns. This is unacceptable – its time to bring our soldiers home and strengthen Iraq militarily, diplomatically and politically. Otherwise, we may be looking at Vietnam, Part II.
-Colin Lepiscopo is a television, film, and new media production junior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed – include your full name, major and year in school.
