Time to Leave: Panetta should stick to the Iraq pull-out deadline

[Divernan]

Time to leave: Panetta should stick to the Iraq pull-out deadline
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Warriors seem to have the same problem as lovers: It's hard to say goodbye. For months, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been flirting with the notion that American forces in Iraq should stay past the Dec. 31 deadline to leave, almost begging the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki to request this.

But as much as security remains a problem in Iraq, Mr. Maliki knows that the American presence in his country remains an irritant to many Iraqis and has not yet endorsed this request, although his government has agreed to talks. The conflicted and less-than-enthusiastic Iraqi response has not stopped Mr. Panetta from continuing to push the suggestion.

In the first place, it would break a firm agreement negotiated in 2008 between President George W. Bush and the Iraqi government that all U.S. forces will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011. Politically, failure to do so would be one more example of President Barack Obama disappointing those who voted for him.

If that were not enough, it is imperative that the Iraq war be brought to a close in the cause of deficit reduction. After more than eight years of a presence in Iraq, if the mission is not complete now it will never be complete. But it is important that the United States make as clean a break as it can. The American people are tired of this war, which has claimed more than 4,400 American deaths since the 2003 invasion, significantly more than the deaths on 9/11, which was its false pretext.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11251/1172908-192.stm#ixzz1XMcc8E00

[ladjf]

1. The troop withdrawal command should come from the President

and immediately.

[Enthusiast]

2. I guess Panetta doesn't understand the

reality of the Iraq War.

The reality is that the reasons for the war were entirely fabricated. Someone should have been held responsible for this. The war served the nation no purpose whatsoever.

Why hasn't Panetta been removed?

[Myrina]

3. I definitely agree we should withdraw, but ...

... with unemployment near 10% and little-to-no funding going for infrastructure projects, just what are these folks going to do when they get back stateside?

:shrug:

[soryang]

4. Keep them on active duty?

Withdrawal doesn't imply discharge necessarily. Bringing active duty troops home would do wonders for local economies and help alleviate balance of payment difficulties. Defense budget cuts should come out of contractors providing services overseas first. This will benefit rather than harm the US economy as government funds would be freed to support more essential services and employment at home.

[trud]

5. Not to Worry!

Obama has ramped up the Afghanistan war so that it has fully compensated for the draw down in Iraq. No one in the military-industrial complex will lose a cent or be out of work. More people will die, more trillions of taxpayer money down the drain, but, hey, that's nothing.

Thanks, Mr. Pres! What a guy!