Iraqi & Afghan prisoners : tortured to death

roadhog

(...snip...)

I agree. And your post expresses one side of the argument (re: whether we should maintain presence there or not) very well. There are compelling reasons why it would benefit many issues to leave immediately. However, there are also compelling reasons to stay. Especially in light of this week's activities, it is clear that bloody chaos would ensue if we were to leave now - at least until the resulting power vacuum is filled. Who would fill the vacuum? No telling - some of the possibilities are outside of Iraq's present borders. Some would spell bad news not just for Western concerns but also to those in the middle east. And of course massive bloodshed would be included. So, does our obligation to "make the best" of this situation include the protection of the innocent victims who would certainly perish in the bloodshed I've refered to? I'd say we could easily argue it does. And of course there are other aspects to this side of the argument as well. This is but an example.

Another issue is that it is not clear what good we can accomplish by staying. There is no organization in the world, to include our military, equipped and trained and manned to build a country up from this sort of chaos. It's not what we were designed for or meant to do. It's not something you can easily accomplish "on the fly". It makes no difference if we have an incredibly powerful military. Incredibly powerful militaries were not made for this mission.

I honestly don't know which is the right thing to do. I'm very reluctant to say we should leave now because of the issues I've mentioned but I also recognize the negative affects of our presence. Either way, the US will be blamed for the "badness" that results. Some of those people calling for our departure from the region will be the same ones to rail against us when the resulting violence consumes the country and perhaps more of the region. And like you say, people currently rail against us for our presence and question our interests. This situation is our own fault of course - for not either foreseeing this eventuality or somehow preventing it.

So, my point is not to say "oh, poor America, they have no good options". That is not it at all. We put ourselves in this situation for sure and have nobody else to blame. Instead, my point is to say that we cannot pretend this situation has *any* easy solution - and perhaps not even any *right* solution. We must respect the situation enough to recognize the significant downfalls with almost any decision.

Essentially, I've been successful in rambling about the situation and offering no solutions. I recognize this. I am torn - but lean towards sticking it out with the good Iraqis that are trying to lead something close to a normal life simply because we now owe it to them. But I most certainly recognize the merits of the other argument as well. And I certainly don't enjoy spending time in Iraq and away from my family. As it is, I've missed my oldest girl's 1st and 2nd birthday and I met my youngest girl when she was 6 months old. For selfish reasons - I wouldn't mind pulling out yesterday. But alas, the "powers that be" don't ask Army Majors for advice on these sort of matters... They just send us out to execute the decisions.