We did what we set out to
WE went in
We toppled Sadam
We disbanded their army (IMO a mistake)
We retrained them
WE equipped their police
We built schools
WE helped them start a government based on democratic principles.
AND
We gave them all the tools and resources to have a peaceful existence.
And there's still chaos
I say proclaim what we've accomplished,
declare victory,
and redploy to the perimeter. NOT LEAVE ENTIRELY
redploy to the perimieter
There are so many other foreign and domestic issues that demand our time and money.
Unfortunately, the neo-con dream of democracy spreading throughout the middle east may not come to pass, but we did our best and it's time to move on.
My biggest fear is that if we stay in there, the only thing we accomplish is more American casualties and islamic hatred.
It's not getting better. It's getting worse. And the longer we stay in the there, this trend will likely continue.
By redeploying to the perimeter we are preventing them from invading other lands or trying to expand their reach in the middle east.
And by leaving the area, we are sending a message that we want to be viewed as liberators not occupiers.
This may restore some much needed trust and respect in the Muslim world.
And besides,
it's a lot harder to recruit terrorists to fight the "evil occupiers" when theyre's no occupation to speak of.