Why are our troups still in Iraq???

I dont understand why our troups are still getting killed in Iraq. We have Hussein, and we havent found any WMD, so why are we still there? I dont understand it...Maybe something else is going on over there. Forgive my ignorance and enlighten me please.

In my opinion, there are many factors that keep US troops in Iraq.
First, we stay to keep peace back in the US. It does not seem like it but it is. By leaving right now, the extremists and terrorists will be motivated to continue its attacks. By staying in Iraq, we are creating a distraction, a diversion from the effort of terrorists to attack. We are now have a presence that is really close to their operational areas and we are able to track them down and disrupt them easily. It is like having someone breathing down your neck. They are now having more trouble communicating because we are able to track them electronically. So they have to do it by other means that are less efficient.

Second, oil. Need i say more? We are there not to just rid Saddam, we have other things on the table. Iraq has the largest oil reserve in the world and it is not a member of OPEC. It does not seem that way because we are facing daily casualties (civilians and soldiers). We are fighting the wrong type of battle. We are not fully prepared for guerrilla warfare. The majority of us thought that the war would end quickly. Instead, we are sinking deeper into this more than we need to. If the war would have ended quickly, it would have been a profitable war. We would have had the control of the oil reserve ( the Iraqis govt. is pro American).

i agree with the 2 reasons just mentioned, and would like to add a third- if we pull out now, we leave iraq worse than we found it. this would be political suicide for bush, kerry, or anyone in charge. if we don't make sure iraq prospers, it will be a stain on america for as long as iraq lasts.

-koji K.

Originally posted by koji_K
i agree with the 2 reasons just mentioned, and would like to add a third- if we pull out now, we leave iraq worse than we found it. this would be political suicide for bush, kerry, or anyone in charge. if we don't make sure iraq prospers, it will be a stain on america for as long as iraq lasts.

-koji K.

How do you figure we left it worse than when we found it? We got rid of Hussein.

Originally posted by JustAnIllusion

Originally posted by koji_K
i agree with the 2 reasons just mentioned, and would like to add a third- if we pull out now, we leave iraq worse than we found it. this would be political suicide for bush, kerry, or anyone in charge. if we don't make sure iraq prospers, it will be a stain on america for as long as iraq lasts.

-koji K.

How do you figure we left it worse than when we found it? We got rid of Hussein.

Because the Iraqis don't want us over there anymore. We've extended our stay in their opinion. Imagine if our country was just like Iraq and the Iraqis came over here to get rid of George Bush if he was a dictator. After awhile I'd want the Iraqis out of my country. I'd just feel uncomfortable. This is my country. Not theirs.

Because the Iraqis don't want us over there anymore. We've extended our stay in their opinion. Imagine if our country was just like Iraq and the Iraqis came over here to get rid of George Bush if he was a dictator. After awhile I'd want the Iraqis out of my country. I'd just feel uncomfortable. This is my country. Not theirs.

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Then wouldnt that be a better reason to "pull out now"? Your first post and your second post conflict with each other.

hussein, though an evil tyrant, kept order in the country. the oppressed were oppressed and the favored were favored. he also kept the terrorists out. i don't subscribe to the view that anything would be better than saddam as justification for the US just upping and leaving iraq now. a chaotic, terrorist-ridden, fundamentalist-militia playground would be worse than we found it. how long do you think it would take the strongest militia group to set up their own prisons, secret police, and other police-state apparatus if we just left them tommorow? not very long i think. when WMD's were an issue, we were told "the ends justify the means". well, i believe that still holds even if there are no WMD's. in order for this war to be justified, we have an obligation to leave iraq better than we found it. removing a tyrant doesn't automatically make a country better- look at tito in yugoslavia, or even louis IVX...

koji K.

We can fight them there...
Or...
We can fight them here.
Which would you prefer?
I don't believe by your question that you'd be able to handle them at your front door.

What is worrisome is that the US went over there under a pretense that hasn't been proven up to now with anything substantial... did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction? It doesn't seem like it. So now the theory is that Iraq moved those weapons into Syria... what better reason to attack Syria? And if we don't find any WMDs in Syria... hmmm, maybe the Syrians moved them into Lybia, let's attack there...

See where this policy of preemptive strike can lead us? Theoretically, it means that the US can attack any country it wants, then find another justification later if the original justification doesn't pan out...

That is a good question I have been wondering about from Day 1. What have WE gained by being over there? All that has been accomplished is for hundreds of our service people to die and billions spent...on what? If you think the Iraqis are glad we are over there...give them awhile of taking care of their own democracy and they will be back in the same boat!! All for NOTHING!!!

Originally posted by Jalengrma
That is a good question I have been wondering about from Day 1. What have WE gained by being over there? All that has been accomplished is for hundreds of our service people to die and billions spent...on what? If you think the Iraqis are glad we are over there...give them awhile of taking care of their own democracy and they will be back in the same boat!! All for NOTHING!!!

We can't get out of that country for a number of reasons. One of them is reputation. The US is not going to throw in the towel because of terrorists attacking them. They can't get out now. They are in too deep of a hole

Originally posted by jazzmaster

Originally posted by Jalengrma
That is a good question I have been wondering about from Day 1. What have WE gained by being over there? All that has been accomplished is for hundreds of our service people to die and billions spent...on what? If you think the Iraqis are glad we are over there...give them awhile of taking care of their own democracy and they will be back in the same boat!! All for NOTHING!!!

We can't get out of that country for a number of reasons. One of them is reputation. The US is not going to throw in the towel because of terrorists attacking them. They can't get out now. They are in too deep of a hole

I keep reading all these people saying 'Why are we there'.. My question is this..

Why would we want to leave?

We're after Al Queda. When we attacked Afghan to chase out the taliban we scattered their forces and interupted their plans. Then we moved to plan B to take back Iraq (I wont go into the reasons I believe we took iraq, completly different topic).. eventually the terrorist networks got back in touch and started attacking our forces in Iraq. We've been taking them out little by little vs not even having a clue as to where they were hiding.

Again, why leave Iraq if our occupation of Iraq is suceeding in everything we're trying to do..

Why leave Iraq if the terrorists are coming to us for the fight.

We could leave Iraq and go back to guessing where they're hiding and having to deal with international politics everytime we want to plan a strike on Al Queda bases in various regions.. OR .. we could chill in Iraq and let them come to us.


We're not fighting Iraq people, get that through your heads.. The Iraqi war lasted a mere few weeks. The war we're fighting IN iraq is the War on Terrorism..

Our troops are going to be there until atleast 2006, I promise this.

You guys are so misinformed saying that the Iraqi people do not want us there. Look at any statistic on the subject - Iraqis have repeatedly said they WANT the US there for the long hall, and with good reason. If we leave now, their country would go to hell. Chaos would reign with riots in the streets and death everywhere, all while every power hungry nut tried to take control.

It is our OBLIGATION as an invading superpower to see to it that this country is better off then we found it. It won't be too hard considering who was running the country before....

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
Our troops are going to be there until atleast 2006, I promise this.

I'd take it one step further and say, in some capacity, they will be there at least another 5 years if not more.

Well, there are still U.S. troops in Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea, and World War II and the Korean War ended over 50 years ago...

...so I don't think we're leaving Iraq or Afghanistan anytime soon.

I agree with American Mad Man we are going to be there for a long time 5 yrs I wouldnt be surprised if were there alot longer than that, We are still in Korea after all.

Why are our troups still in Iraq???

Very simple this administration make a mess and now it is stuck in it, and so our trops.