As the year is winding down, so is our military presence in Iraq. During the nine-year Iraq war, 4,500 of our troops were killed and 32,000 were wounded. And this war cost us $800 billion.
While our troops defeated the military forces of Saddam Hussein and defanged an al-Queda linked insurgency, we are leaving an uncertain Iraq. Will the Shiite government of Iraq be confronted with sectarian insurgencies from the Sunnis and the Kurds? Very likely! Will Iran end up exercising a strong influence over the Iraqi government? Probably!
Our military presence in Iraq is ending, not because we have been victorious, but because the president made a purely political motivated decision. As a senator, Obama was outspoken in his opposition to the war in Iraq. When he ran for president, Obama promised to bring the troops home. And now that President Obama is engaged in his campaign for a second term in office, that’s one of the few promises he’s kept.
Almost all of our top ranking military officers have opposed the total withdrawal of our armed forces from Iraq. They believe that an American military presence is necessary to counter the growing influence of Iran.
If sectarian warfare does erupt in Iraq and if it falls under the Iranian sphere of influence, one would have to question whether Obama’s political troop maneuver made the cost – 4,500 troops killed, 32,000 wounded, $800 billion – worth it.
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