The Politicization of War

Today President Obama announced that all troops will be brought home from Iraq by the end of 2011.

This will bring to an end a 9 year era of hostility and war in the country that has cost us over $1 trillion and 4400+ American lives…but also deposed Sadaam Hussein and led to a somewhat democratic Iraq. Whether we should have been in there at all is a debate we’ve long since exhausted. The issue of bringing all our troops home has been the latest debate, with some people wanting to bring everyone home immediately, and others wanting to keep a small force there for decades…and everywhere in between. However, where differences in Iraq opinions has shown up the most is in politics, where the Iraq War has become an issue of debate for how it can help politicians the most…not what’s right for the people of Iraq or our own troops.

First, I’ll get my personal views out of the way. I’m pretty tired of spending money in a country that doesn’t want our troops there…especially when we’re having a big enough debt crisis right here at home. I think we’ve been there long enough that anything we can help with in regards to training the Iraqi forces is done…and any extended presence there will only lead to further American animosity in the region. The money we save from not running this foreign war any longer would be useful in trying to somehow curtail this debt. Therefore, this is welcome news to me. I’m glad the troops are coming home.

However, two issues I would like to point out with the timing of this announcement.

First, this seems like a conveniently times announcement by Obama to try and help his re-election campaign. Announcing that all the troops will be coming home just as the Republican nomination campaign heats up seems like a conveniently timed withdrawal. Now Obama can go around the country and give speeches (which he likes to do instead of actually working on solving problems) and tout how he’s the man bringing the troops home. And he did it in his first term. And blah blah blah. So, he’d be politicizing a move that really should just be able to stand on its own as the right thing to do. However, that’s really not even the biggest issue.

The main issue with this announcement is that Obama actually did nothing that led to this final troop withdrawal. This troop withdrawal was the timeline set out by President Bush in the final year of his Presidency as a path to ending the war. Bush’s plan for Iraq had all our troops leaving Iraq by the end of 2011 anyways. So Obama, who campaigned against Bush and said his timelines for withdrawal were too slow and that he would bring troops home immediately, ended up just FOLLOWING THE SAME WITHDRAWAL TIMELINE THAT HE HAD BASHED IN HIS CAMPAIGN! So, maybe we should be thanking President Bush for the end to the Iraq War.

On top of that, President Obama and his Administration over the last few months have been negotiating with the Iraqi Government on a proposal to keep our troops there for years longer! So, not only is it the Bush withdrawal timeline that is being used here, but Obama (who ran on a platform bashing this timeline as too long) actually wanted to keep troops there LONGER THAN BUSH HAD PLANNED TO! This is a stunning turn of events. After all the campaign bluster about bringing our troops home, Obama really didn’t do anything different than the status quo. Sounds like a real hero for the anti-war crowd to me!

All of this really isn’t of interest for the troop withdrawal itself. It’s the right move, and has been set in motion for a long time. However, I think it will be very interesting to see how this is spun in the media and on the campaign trail. So, anyone who reads this, keep these facts in mind when you listen to Obama’s speeches about this troops withdrawal, and how the media covers it. I suspect you won’t hear too much about how this was Bush’s plan all along, or how Obama actually wanted to keep troops there longer. But an educated voter should know these things when weighing the pros and cons of choosing who to vote for in 2012. For me, Obama sticking with the Bush timeline for withdrawal won’t count as a positive for him in my book…being as it wasn’t his idea, and he tried to extend their stay. Hopefully everyone else gets the full picture as well.