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Speak Out
How long should the U.S. military remain in Iraq?
In late August, President Barack Obama announced that the United States’ combat mission in Iraq had concluded and that American troops would fully withdraw by December 2011.
That deadline may be extended, however, if the Iraqi government asks our troops to stay longer.
In a statement on Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said, “We’ll stand by. We’re ready to have that discussion if and when [Iraqi officials] want to raise it with us.”
| Who makes decisions about the U.S. military and what it does – or doesn’t do? A lot of people, actually: a network of Congress, the president and his administration. Article 2, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution names the president “commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several states.” But the power to actually declare war rests with Congress in Article 1, Section 8. Once our troops are activated, decisions are made by the Department of Defense, in connection with the generals in command. But since the president is the commander in chief, and since the secretary of defense sits on his cabinet, he determines military policy.
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Violence in Iraq has been ever present, even when President Obama announced the troop drawdown was in effect. At that point, Iraq had just experienced a particularly deadly July, when 396 civilians, 50 Iraqi soldiers and 89 Iraqi police officers were killed. In addition, 100 people labeled as terrorists were killed, while 955 suspected terrorists were detained. Violence has risen in the time since, and spiked in late October. Officials think it likely that Iraq will ask the U.S. to extend the troops’ departure deadline.
But Gates says that request must come from a functioning Iraqi government – and right now, one still has not been achieved. Since parliamentary elections in March, Iraq’s rival political groups have been unable to agree on the next steps – for the troops, or much else. Gates says the government must get over this hurdle if it wants troops to remain.
“We have been pretty clear to the Iraqis that what we seek, and hope they will come together on, is an inclusive government that represents all of the major elements of Iraqi society and in a nonsectarian way,” he said.
It’s important to remember that, right now, everything is hypothetical, depending on what Iraq’s government is able to achieve. But it presents a tricky situation for President Obama, who heads into a reelection year in 2012. Among other things, he campaigned for president in 2008 on a promise of bringing the troops home. He even announced the drawdown as such in August.
“This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for office,” he said at the time.
If the withdrawal deadline is extended at Iraq’s request, Obama may be viewed by some as not living up to the promise he made in 2008, even though military presence was reduced significantly on his watch. When he was campaigning, 140,000 troops were stationed in Iraq. As of August, those numbers have reduced to 49,900.
What do you think?
How long should the U.S. military remain in Iraq? Should the Iraq government be able to ask us to stay past our deadline? Should our troops remain until the violence in Iraq settles? Why or why not? How do you think this need for added security might affect the Iraqi government? How might it affect President Obama? Join the discussion and let us know what you think!
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