Our Troops Should Come Home

Our Troops Should Come Home

There is much controversy surrounding the war in Iraq, both in terms of its legality, its practicality and its current course. Within all of these elements there are arguments to be found that suggest that the troops currently in Iraq should indeed come home. The main argument for bringing home the troops is that they shouldn't have been there in the first place, as no weapons of mass destruction were found, and they are now doing virtually nothing to help the situation, and may indeed be worsening it.

The reasons given for the original invasion of Iraq (Bush, 2003) mainly surrounded that there was supposedly "irrefutable" evidence that Iraq had, and was prepared to use, Weapons of Mass Destruction. The claim was that these weapons were an imminent danger to the USA. Once America invaded Iraq, and the initial success was replaced by a Vietnam-like war of attrition against an unseen enemy. The original reason for the invasion of Iraq was either mistaken or deliberately misleading, so no more soldiers should be lost in fighting for a war that was not needed.

Another reason for the troops to be withdrawn is that the invasion of Iraq went against international law and the American constitution. Thus it has been the avowed policy of the United States not to attack another country unless attacked itself. In other words, the United States would only fight a war of defense rather than offense. The war in Iraq broke this tradition and was not sanctioned by the United Nations. The United States attempted to get United Nations support for the war, failed, and then invaded Iraq anyway. The United States should withdraw its troops and return to the world of legality as soon as possible. The invasion cannot now be undone but at least the damage can be minimized by withdrawing as soon as is realistic to do so.

Another reason for the withdrawal of troops is that Iraq has become a training ground for new terrorists. Iraq is now essentially a chaotic and anarchistic place with terrorists pouring in and able to have a live training session against American soldiers. On a related note, the fact that America invaded Iraq acts as a recruiting tool for terrorists. In a sense American troops are living up to the idea that America is an imperialistic society relentlessly pursuing world domination. As MoveOn.org suggests, American troops may be seen as the ideal target to prove that this pursuit will not succeed Ð'- they are essentially sitting targets for any terrorist who wants to take a pot shot at them.

With American troops present in Iraq the country of Iraq is less stable than it would be if they were not there. If the Bush administration genuinely wants a stable Iraq to be an example of democracy for the Arab world, then the troops should be withdrawn. They are making the situation worse through increasing the resentment of the Iraqi people and causing more violence.

More than 2500 troops have been killed in Iraq, and the army is presently having to rotate soldiers in and out of the country at a record pace. The armed forces are simply becoming too exhausted to keep up this kind of commitment. The Iraq war has now lasted longer than World War Two, World War One and the Korean War. Having exhaustex and demoralized troops makes them unprepared to take on other commitments, such as a North Korean invasion of the South. This, unlike Iraq, would be a real threat to American security, but the army would be stretched to meet the North Koreans with anything like enough force. A diversion such as Iraq is not only objectionable on its own right, but because it weakens the armed forces for other potential wars (globalwatch, 2005).

Not only are the people becoming