Posted by
Jabra on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 1:18:51 PM
Without mincing words here is my short list on why Conservatives should be for a change of policy on Iraq leading to a withdrawal of our
regular troops as soon as possible. Before presenting the list let me say the following:
"We needed to go to war against Al Qaeda & the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It would have been crazy not to go and destroy those forces in the region which have haunted us for so long. American stability and interest was on the balance and there were no other alternatives. The Koran and Radical Islamic interpretation of it insists that this is an eternal war until the whole world is converted to Islam".
My List:
With Al Qaeda crumbling. We need to follow a new and efficient plan.Our economy is crumbling. We cannot continue spending on the Iraq war at the current levels indefinitely. The Iraq war at this stage is distracting us from dealing with other challenges that will threaten our economic and national security (oil prices, dictators in other countries building nukes, the Chinese and Arabs buying our mortgages)Arab countries can stabilize the situation in Iraq if they wished. Right now the oil sheikdoms are enjoying us being there because: a. They can lend us money. b. Sell us oil at higher prices. c. Consolidate their dictatorial rule. One of the main principles of many of the founding fathers was that of not being involved in foreign entanglements since it has the potential to undermine our moral authority and the principles of freedom this country is based on. Unprincipled involvement in foreign affairs by American politicians has undermined our moral authority and gave strength to radical Islamic principles that call for destroying the west unless it is converted to Islam. While terrorist activities are evil acts by evil ideologues I can see some merit in arguments by people like Ron Paul when they say that our politicians' involvements lead to terrorist attacks.Now that I gave you a summary of my list. Here is a more detailed explanation of my ideas.
1. I believe, as well as many soldiers I work with in all services, that this war needs to be fought in a different manner. Keep in mind that our troops accomplished in a few weeks, with 300 Special Forces soldiers, and with less than 3 million Dollars, what the Soviets couldn't accomplish with all their might, and that is conquering and controlling Afghanistan. We invaded Iraq in a few days from north to south with insignificant numbers of allies and a small contingent of troops. The deterioration that happened later in the Iraqi situation was due to failed, and uninformed political decisions by President Bush and Paul Bremer. At any rate, with the news coming out of Iraq and Pakistan and even Lebanon today, Al Qaeda is crumbling badly. Our troops in Iraq have accomplished that part of the mission, which was originally the main mission before we engaged in nation building.
Many people I talk to in the military community agree that we should withdraw from Iraq completely and leave small contingents of Special Forces (Delta, Rangers, Marines, Seals, Green Berets in addition to CIA black ops and the like) around the region and in Europe, ready to strike at the enemy at any time and with short notice whenever they try to organize. Officers I talk to feel that this will be an easier, cheaper and more efficient option than sending National Guards, Army Reserves and regular Army and Navy into the battlefield.
2. Our country is in a rough shape economically. The housing crisis is just a tip of the iceberg and our enemies (China, Muslim Countries with terrorist sympathies) are in the process of buying us out. If the situation continues as is don't be surprised to see your mortgage sold to a Chinese or Dubai or Saudi based banks. I don't think that this is a fate that any of us wants. As a country we have 10 trillion in debt, 29 billion a month in interest and our joint income is 13 trillion. Interest rates and lower productivity will catch up with us eventually and we will have more debt than income like any third world country. Actually, th opinion among economists is that if the US government did its books according to the same regulations it imposes on businesses it will be 56 trillion in debt. Which means that was it not for cooking the books by the government we would already be considered by banks like any third world country.
Spending 9 billion a day in Iraq and 500 billion a year on defense is not helping our economic situation. Arab countries are laughing at us because we are spending our own treasure on a situation that they can stabilize and deal with if they had to, namely if we were not there. Right now they are enjoying our involvement in Iraq because it has become a distraction for us preventing us from practicing strong diplomacy when it comes to oil prices, seeking nuclear weapons,
assassinating political rivals (as in Pakistan) and all other things that in the long run would contribute to our safety.
If we withdraw then the Arab & Muslim countries will end the instability in Iraq and find a formula for peace there. It is not in the interest of any dictator in that region to have instability spell into his country. It is in their interest though to keep us distracted from what they are doing to build their power and eliminate their enemies.
As an American Christian of Arab heritage, while I grew up in the Middle East I was always disappointed that while American policy makers said they were interested in my freedom from oppression over there, every time they had a chance or opportunity to do something it never materialized. Actually it seemed as if American policies enabled my enemy to have more power over me.
While I agree that terrorism is caused by factors that are at the heart of Islam, anti-Zionism and other things that America has nothing to do with, it is also caused in measure by the frustration many young people there feel when they see America supporting their dictator oppressors. I believe that America should not spend any treasure of the blood of our own precious soldiers for foreign causes. But, if we tell the world that we are committed to freedom and ending tyranny then our government should not go around supporting military thugs like Musharaf or Anti-Christian governments in Iraq.
For us to have any moral authority our politicians should stick to our moral principles and not change them when it suites our political interest. Unfortunately, many people cannot understand this logic even though it is very straight forward. The founding fathers of this country knew that foreign entanglements would put us in such a situation and they were vehemently against it. When Ron Paul and his likes in the Conservative and Libertarian movement speak against the war this moral dilemma is exactly what is on their mind. If we choose to strike against tyranny and terrorism then we should strike against all tyranny and terrorism and not make one form of tyranny our friend and another our enemy.
The only situation we need to entangle our selves in foreign affairs is if there is a direct and eminent threat against the US and its people. From this perspective we needed to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nevertheless, with the enemy destroyed and with access to modern technology, superior air power and a strong Special Forces presence we have other options now to maintain a terror-free status in rogue Middle East countries. It is time to save our treasure and the lives of those wonderful soldiers who serve in our armed forces. It is time to put our economy and financial house in order. To save our currency, which will become close to worthless if we keep printing and spending as we are now. In all this we need to remember that even though the Roman Empire is not the United States, The Roman empire fell not due to lack of military strength but because it finally could not pay its soldiers or government workers.