Troops in Iraq: Should they stay or go, and who should decide? 

 

December 1, 2005 – As the partisan debate over the future of American troops in Iraq intensifies in Washington DC, it is astonishing that absent from the debate is the wishes of the Iraqi people.  After all, the United States invaded their country.  We abolished their government and disassembled their military.  We captured or killed their leadership.  Next we commenced to rebuild the infrastructure we destroyed during our initial invasion, and continue to destroy while engaged in an ongoing struggle to root out terrorists, insurgents, enemy combatants, or whatever we’re calling the resistance this week to our presence in Iraq.   You’d think after all of this the Iraqi people would have some voice, some right to decide for themselves whether the United States should stay the course or withdraw our troops from their country, don’t you think?

 

Here’s where we are at in the debate.  The rebuilding effort in some areas of Iraq has been quite successful while other areas are proving more difficult.  If there is a shining achievement in Iraq, it’s those ink-stained, purple fingers symbolizing free elections.  The fact that the Iraqi people have voted for the formation of a democracy and their country’s constitution is arguably the greatest victory thus far for Iraq and the United States. 

 

However, after three years of fighting a surprising resistance to our military presence in Iraq, there are a growing number of congressmen and senators feeling the heat from their constituents to start withdrawing our troops as soon as possible.  Even some of the strongest supporters of the invasion of Iraq are beginning to waiver, although they are hanging tough on the principle that America must find an exit strategy that includes victory for the United States.   What “victory” will look like in Iraq, nobody in Washington DC seems to know for sure.  If it includes the elimination of suicide bombers, roadside improvised explosive devices, and Sunnis and Shiites getting along peacefully, then we’ll never be victorious and might as well withdraw all of our troops immediately. 

 

On the other side of the debate are the war protesters that denounce the entire invasion of Iraq as having occurred on purposely, falsified intelligence.  They ridicule the effort to spread democracy in the Middle East as a fool’s folly that will ultimately cost the American people hundreds of billions, in not a trillion dollars.  They are right about the cost of the war.  Somebody will have to pay the bill sooner or later and that “somebody” will be the taxpayer.  What these protesters lack though is any appreciation for the historical importance of victory for the United States in Iraq.  When President Bush says, “failure’s not an option in Iraq”, he is correct. 

 

Somewhere in the middle of all this arguing, name-calling, finger pointing, and character assassination are the people we reportedly have liberated.  Of all parties involved, it should be apparent that the Iraqi people should have some say as to the future of American troops in their country.  And if Iraq were to insist on a special election to be held so that the people can vote on the issue of if and when our military presence should end, victory will be achieved for everyone, regardless of the election outcome.

 

If the Iraqi people vote for total, immediate withdraw of all U.S. troops, the United States can point to that demonstration of democracy and our nation’s utmost respect for the will of free people as our notice that the people of Iraq are ready to handle their own affairs with their full understanding that they will have tough times ahead without us.  To respect their will as they bid us farewell would be a clear, decisive victory for the United States. 

 

If the Iraqis vote for partial troop involvement or for the U.S. to stay the course, this would also be a victory for the United States.  For one thing, it would put the divisive, partisan debate that’s raging on hold for a while.  What the American people need right now, particularly those who were once supportive of the war but now are less convinced that it was the right thing to do, is for the Iraqi people, through a special election, to tell America what they want from us.  If the Iraqis vote for the U.S. military to stay the course, Americans will renew their resolve for the war effort. 

 

Americans should call and write their members of Congress and urge them to push for a special election in Iraq to determine what the Iraqi people want us to do at this point in time regarding our military presence in their country.  Should we stay or should we go, or somewhere in between?  If the United States and the Bush Administration is as gung ho for democracy in Iraq and the Middle East as it claims, then it’s time to let the most important people associated with, and affected by the debate, to cast the deciding vote.  It’s time to let the Iraqi people decide whether they need our military services any longer, and for the United States to respect the freedom of the Iraqi people to decide what is in their country’s best interest.  After three decades of living under a dictatorship, haven’t their voices been oppressed long enough?