Staff Editorial

Obama does right by bringing troops home

President Barack Obama recently gave the friends and families of military personnel in Iraq a reason to look forward to the holidays. On Friday, Obama announced that all troops in Iraq will be coming home, with the last returning on the first of next year.

Obama said that US military personnel should leave Iraq “with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops.”

Leaving Iraq is the correct course of action for the US at this time. The US occupation has run its course, and there is little else that can be accomplished. It is now time for the Iraqi government to take full control in the defense of its nation.

Obama’s withdrawal plan technically follow a withdrawal goal set by George W. Bush’s administration. However, Obama’s decision has not come without criticism from the GOP and some of its 2012 Presidential candidates.

“President Obama’s astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women,” said GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government. The American people deserve to hear the recommendations that were made by our military commanders in Iraq.”

It is surprising, in the era of GOP fiscal austerity, that so many Republicans are against Obama’s troop withdrawal plan. The Iraq war has cost the US an estimated $4 trillion. Imagine what that amount of money could have done had it had been used domestically?

Obama’s withdrawal plan will allow US taxpayer money to be spent here, building infrastructure, jobs and creating a more economically friendly environment for returning troops and their families.

7 Comments

  • History will show that this is a political move, and an incompetent one at that. Actually it will show that Obama doesn't really have an political skill at all.
    Once the background of the talks reveal that Obama's people couldn't even negotiate with the Iraqi's from a position of strength, thus forcing this decision.
    The so-called "Arab Spring," called the "Arab Uprising" in Europe, will come back to haunt us. Obama will allow these countries to rule under Sharia Law, and his decisions today will cost more American lives the future.
    Democrats think this decision will allow more money to be spent here. How? We are already broke already? 1.5 trillion deficits per year for the past two years, and no Dems complain. They complains were our deficitis were $256 billion under Bush.
    The liberal media is morally and thankfully financially bankrupt. Heck it took two years before we could confirm Obama was actually an America, but they would go to the ends of the Earth to disprove the American birth of a Republican or Conservative.

    • What Arab Spring? Besides for Tunisia and Libya, no significant changes have occurred. Egypt still chafes under military rule, since its military refuses to go any further than deposing someone they didn't like either. Bashar al-Assad has no intention of leaving power in Syria, and it doesn't look like his three pillars of support are collapsing either. Protests in Bahrain were instigated by Iran and duly suppressed by Saudi Arabia, which fears expanding Iranian influence in the Middle East. Iran supports the Arab Spring as a ploy to gain more power in that region. Most regimes have not changed, because their militaries don't feel like giving up power.

    • What Arab Spring? Besides for Tunisia and Libya, no significant changes have occurred. Egypt still chafes under military rule, since its military refuses to go any further than deposing someone they didn't like either. Bashar al-Assad has no intention of leaving power in Syria, and it doesn't look like his three pillars of support are collapsing either. Protests in Bahrain were instigated by Iran and duly suppressed by Saudi Arabia, which fears expanding Iranian influence in the Middle East. Iran supports the Arab Spring as a ploy to gain more power in that region. Most regimes have not changed, because their militaries don't feel like giving up power.

  • History will show that this is a political move, and an incompetent one at that. Actually it will show that Obama doesn't really have an political skill at all.
    Once the background of the talks reveal that Obama's people couldn't even negotiate with the Iraqi's from a position of strength, thus forcing this decision.
    The so-called "Arab Spring," called the "Arab Uprising" in Europe, will come back to haunt us. Obama will allow these countries to rule under Sharia Law, and his decisions today will cost more American lives the future.
    Democrats think this decision will allow more money to be spent here. How? We are already broke already? 1.5 trillion deficits per year for the past two years, and no Dems complain. They complains were our deficitis were $256 billion under Bush.
    The liberal media is morally and thankfully financially bankrupt. Heck it took two years before we could confirm Obama was actually an America, but they would go to the ends of the Earth to disprove the American birth of a Republican or Conservative.

  • I totally agree. This move from Obama is a pure political move. Government also doesn't create jobs—companies doo!!

  • I totally agree. This move from Obama is a pure political move. Government also doesn't create jobs—companies doo!!

  • Another "stellar and open-minded" article from the Daily Coog, I've come to expect nothing more than editorials such as these….

    The war hasn't cost anywhere close to the $4 trillion mentioned – where did you get that skewed figure from? As of the end of FY2011, the combined cost for Iraq and Afghanistan is just over $1.29 trillion. Just to put things into perspective, the first two years of the Obama administration have cost more than the entire Iraq War.

    This was nothing more than the result of inept diplomacy from the Obama administration, that the mainstream liberal media is positively spinning for his reelection campaign.

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