pulling out

Yes, that kind is good, too.

Pulling troops out of Iraq has received quite a bit of criticism from the GOP, which I think is really funny. Let's examine, shall we?

So when we (stupidly) went INto Iraq, 'ol dubya made some deals and some promises. We had no business being there and the entire bajillion dollar war was entered into under false pretenses. But we went and then we were pretty much stuck there as the Bush family and their hangers on went about making the world a far more dangerous place - at least for Americans. However, there we were and since we were there and not leaving, we had to set up something that had a hope of sustaining itself and aligning to our interests. So the Iraqi's established a government and held elections and it was negotiated that we would get the fuck out at a certain point in time (*hint* - that's right about now).

Then Obama came to office and was elected, in part, because he promised to responsibly scale back our presence in Iraq and ultimately remove all troops altogether and let the Iraqi people get on with governing themselves and figuring it out. You have to take the training wheels off at some point.

Flash forward to now. I realize it is an election season, but this fight is just stoooopid. Seriously. We are on Bush's timetable - which is a republican timetable - but now those grumps don't want it, because it's not their guy making the drawdown. Regardless, it's time to go. The Iraqi's won't give US service members immunity from prosecution under their laws. If that's not dangerous, I don't know what is. Iraqis have also expressed - usually violently - that they don't want us there. They want us to get out.

M'kay. So they want us to get out and will not hesitate to prosecute us (we, who are supposed to be helping them) under their far, far more conservative and punitive laws. I'd say that's a pretty transparent case for leaving where you are not wanted. When the despot is gone and the whole "liberation" thing has worn off, what you are left with is an occupation, and no one wants to be occupied.

My favorite part of this is watching the Republican candidates and commentators say things like "they want us to leave, so we should stay and not back down". Uh....whut? So let me get this straight.....the people we "liberated" want us to leave now, so we should NOT leave, because that would be backing down. In their country. Which we are rolling through with tanks and guns, while getting shot at. Of course! That makes perfect sense. Stay where you are not wanted to show them. If that's not petulant and weird, I don't know what is.

You know what we could maybe do with that money and those returning war veterans, who have done so much for their country, in a completely pointless war? Hey, we could pour all of that money into manufacturing and emerging industries and give those people and a buncha others jobs! Yeah, you know, like maybe use our money on our own soil to better OUR people, who need OUR resources. Just a thought.