Should the U.S. Withdraw from Iraq?

Should the U.S. Withdraw from Iraq?

YES

How likely is success or stability in Iraq?

How long will it take?

How costly will it be in terms of lives, budgetary expenditures, and U.S. relations with other countries?

What would be the consequences of costs, both within and around Iraq and in terms of diminished U.S. credibility, of the U.S. withdrawing before stability is assured?

Can Iraq create a stable, reasonably democratic system in any short-term period that can endure?

Security

The resistance largely controls Baghdad at this point, a situation where there are between 50 and 60 attacks a day. Those opposing US involvement, like militias and terrorist fundamentalist groups already control large sectors of Iraq, because providing security for the people of Iraq has never, from day one, been a priority of this occupation. We saw the abandonment immediately by allowing looting to take place and only guarding the Ministry of Oil, and it’s only gotten worse. Spiraling crime has been a huge problem. And that's actually how the militias were created. They were created as a response to the fact that US Occupation never, ever prioritized giving security to Iraqis.

Training

A general thought is that somehow US forces are helping to train Iraqi police, and that it's just a problem of training. What's actually happening is that there is the security forces are seen as an extension of the hated and loathed occupation. So they get attacked as collaborators and slaughtered. They're not provided with any protection. So the best way for them to build up their own force and their own credibility, is a clear break with the occupation, which means immediately announcing a withdrawal of troops and setting up a transition plan. The first step has to be the announcement of troop withdrawal.

Rebuilding

The Bush administration needs to make a declaration that it has no claims on the territory or the resources of Iraq and intends to withdraw. I talked about how the Iraqi forces are seen as an extension of