And - even more perplexingly - they're not they're now. Well, they're there when a lefty wants to use their presence/alleged strength-gain to make the point that Bush screwed things up. But they're NOT there if a lefty is talking to someone who says we should remain in Iraq because they're there. In that case, they're only in Afghanistan which is the real location of the war on terror.
After all, these things are simultaneously true:
1. us being in Iraq is "distracting" us from fighting the "real" war on terror (=only in Afghanistan). Because Iraq has nothing to do with Al Qaeda.
2. us being in Iraq is attracting Al Qaeda to Iraq & making them stronger. Which is precisely what OBL wanted.
Both! true!
There’s a measure of truth to the assertion that al-Qaeda did not have a significant presence in Iraq before the war. Be that as it may, since the war began they’ve infested the place like cockroaches, and they’re not going away if we leave. On the other hand, leaving Iraq could be a scenario of “addition by subtraction”. i.e., The rest of the world is just sitting their with its popcorn while we’re sacrificing lives and money as Iraq becomes playground to al Qaeda and Iranian backed Shiite terrorists. In my estimate, there’s only two ways we win this war:
1. Military draft and troop explosion - say, an additional 150,000 to 200,000 boots on the ground. Chances of this happening - less than zero.
2. Withdraw from Iraq and force the issue on the European Union. If they’re going to refuse tactical and personnel support, let them reap the whirlwind. I submit that the EU has an even greater interest in containing Al Qaeda, given the geographic proximity and Iran’s nuclear program (and conventional long-range missile development).
Drastic? Yes. But we have to admit that the reality is: we’re politically paralyzed. We’ll never get the troops necessary to win this battle with the terrorists. The only way to increase is to decrease. Force the rest of the world to confront this. Sadly, this is our only hope.
The betrayal of our country by the Democratic party is historic. This betrayal is costing hundreds of lives of our servicemen and women. The outcome is a forgone conclusion with this ball and chain attached to our military. We need to get out of Iraq and regroup. Spare our soldiers this debacle and let the rest of the world deal with the consequence of their own cowardice. This is not World War II. We don’t have the personnel to sustain an operation like this. That’s the unfortunate reality.