The timing could not be better for Obama. With elections coming up soon, his presidency has brought an end to Osama Bin Laden, Moammar el- Qadafi, and now the end of the war in Iraq; which will all help to gain him support from Republicans who question his firmness in foreign affairs. His promise to end the war was one of the biggest reasons he had support from Americans and is one of the few promises he has been able to keep with a cabinet that is against him and a troubled economy.
Of course, there are still several who are against Obama's plan. They believe that it is too soon to begin removing troops and that it could compromise all the efforts and sacrifices of US troops. Republican presidential candiate, Mitt Romney, also questions Obama's reasons for pulling out, wondering whether he was drawn by "naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government". I think it could be a little of both. Obviously, Obama has been campaigning and working to bring an end to the war, but I think that the pressure of reelection has helped to boost him to push his policy just a little harder. What do you think is driving Obama to end this war? Should the US be pulling out right now, or is it still to soon?
9 comments:
I think that it is wonderful that not only can we bring approximately 150,000 soldiers home, but that the situation in Iraq allows for that. Hopefully, we can continue to have civil relations with the government and civilians.
This is of course, wonderful for Obama on the political front, but it seems that luck is on Obama's side at the moment.
There are a couple repercussions to worry about. Mainly, concerning the state of the U.S. economy, won't the returning soldiers raise the unemployment rate and lower consumer expectations?
Part of Obama's election goals in 2008 was to pull out the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This will help Obama's chances in the election in 2012 because he shows that he can get stuff done. After 8 years in the war, it is good that United States is finally out of there. Although, what about the government in Iraq? Will there be problems in the future?
While this seems to bode well, not many of the fundamental issues that galvanized the civil war of 2006-2007, namely the future revenue sharing of oil, the Kurds' niche, and the governing of Iraq as a whole. Even though the US presence might have let these questions perpetuate longer than they should have, it will be interesting (to say the least) what international powers jump at this opening.
But yes, just as Sophia says, this pulling out was rather serendipitous. Now we must wait to see if the people of Iraq can truly make their country whole, this time under their own rule.
Back to the issue of Mitt Romney questioning Obama's reasons for pulling out, I think this statement is hypocritical, because Mitt Romney is one of the Republicans whose values have changed substantially from the time when he was governor or Massachusetts until now. I think to some extent all politicians do this, but for Mitt Romney to call out Obama on this is a hypocritical point to make.
I think the decision to extract troops from Iraq could (and probably will) yield both positive and negative results. As Raquel and Rebecca mentioned, Obama can utilize this to prove his administrtion has been successful. However, as Sabrina warns, calling this a success is contingent upon how well the government in Iraq can function in the future.
Although I'm an Obama supporter, to be honest, when I saw the headline that Obama was ending the war in Iraq the first thing that came to mind was the "political calculation" Governor Romney mentioned. I find it a bit suspicious that he chose to end the war right as he's entering election season, and I'm certain that politics played a role in his decision whether he wanted it to or not. After all, what better way to further amplify your political momentum, after dispatching both bin Laden and Qaddafi within six months of each other, than declaring an end to the Iraq War?
However, as Raquel stated, the end to this conflict was one of the key promises Obama made in 2008 so I respect him for keeping that promise. I'm sure Obama realized that the marginal costs of remaining in Iraq outweighed the marginal benefits, and thus this was a relatively optimal time to pull out. All considered, I think Obama made the right decision for our country - can't wait to see how this milestone will play out in the upcoming election.
Good blog post
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I think that Obama is trying to make it seems like the US troops are coming out of Iraq with their heads held high. I agree with everybody that Obama strategically is getting the troops out for his own political gains. However, aside from Obama’s self reasons, I think it is about time the US troops were pulled out of Iraq. Not only have many soldiers died in Iraq, but there are also many civilians in Iraq who have been in shootings involving US troops. Most importantly though, the main reason to why Iraq troops are leaving Iraq is because of trainers will not receive immunity from prosecution under the Iraqi law. Pentagon has refused that condition which has only quickened the eventual retrieval of US troops.
I too am incredibly glad that Obama pulled out of Iraq, whether it was for political reasons or not. I would hazard to bet it was more of a political tactic mainly because of his track record with the economy. In the last few months before the elections, Obama has to show the American people that he is worth reelecting and with his economic record so bad because of Congress blocking his every attempt to do something, he turns to foreign policy where, despite what the Republican candidates say, he has had huge successes. Pulling out of Iraq fits that purpose nicely since, as I believe that many other posts before me have pointed out, he promised to do just that from the very start in 2008. He is making a decision that is not only good for the economy (no more spending for a useless war!) he is making a decision that will help boost his image.
My major concern, however, is that Republicans are determined to see him fail in everything he does. They cannot allow him to keep this victory for long, so I'm dreading exactly what they're going to do to make Obama look bad. Based on the last three years, a heck-of-a lot of mudslinging (birthers anyone?).
We are still keeping 5000 "defense contractors" in Iraq after the full withdrawl.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/21/iraq-rejects-us-plea-bases
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