Didn't Turkey just cross the Iraqi border this past week and attack Iraqis?
Doesn't Iran not only hate Iraq but don't they also want the iraqi oil, and most of all have the western border of Iraq, which puts their missles and artillery that much closer to Ireal?
I hope our troops can come home and stay home. But I fear that Obama's withdrawl may be militarily premature, and politically motivated.
Is he withdrawing our troops because Iraq can defend itself? Or is he withdrawling because he has an election coming up?
My fear is that Obama is withdrawing because of the election, and that Turkey or Iran will take advantage and force us to return to Iraq, not just to occupy and restore, but into a full fledged middle east war.
We will probably know before the 2012 elections.
AJ
Okay, I'll say this again: the election is only part of it. The real reason for the withdrawal is that the Iraqis wanted to be able to legally treat American soldiers like Iraqis; i.e., put them in an Iraqi court for infractions against Iraqi law, and allow American citizens to be punished according to Iraqi law. America said no. The Iraqi president couldn't convince the rest of the Iraqi leadership to budge on this point. Therefore, the decision became: either submit to Iraqi law, or leave.
What made me laugh about the president's speech is that he said "as promised, we're bringing the troops home." If the Iraqis had compromised on the legality point, the soldiers would have been staying in Iraq; but there was nothing about what actually drove the decision in his speech, was there?
Yes, this has been spun as "as promised"; and will be spun for the election as a promise kept.
Yes, in its own way, Iraq will be able to defend itself...if it remains united. An incursion from another country may be a polarizing factor to keep Iraq united. But I predict there will be "testing" along the borders after the withdrawal.
