What is the best strategy for the U.S. to leave Iraq?

joeson73

Think about it, let the military finish the job. The government started something in the interest of US. They should let-em finish. By that I mean don't hold them back as in previous conflicts. To much political bickering goes on to get anything done!

JustAskin

Now, you may think this is a joke. You might not take it seriously. No one is talking about this, but it is the only logical answer. The answer to your question is really quite simple. The best strategy for the US to leave Iraq, as with any country involved in a war, is to win the war. The complicated aspect is how victory is defined, in other words, what does "winning" mean. That's a whole different question.

Psychedelicy

a) focus on getting the new Iraqi government up

b) sweep the whole country for terrorists like the korean war was done, i personally feel like we are being to nice and laid back

c) stay till the fight is over, that is the best advice to give if you want to get out and stay out of it in the future

Bryan _

1. Remove all the troops
2. Utilize MX missiles
3. Turn the entire region into a parking lot

whereisthewmd

The best strategy is to leave BAGHDAD first. Move ALL TROOPS to all borders of Iraq, especially near Iran and Syria.
1. BAN all movement on Euphrates river and waterway.
2. BAN ALL movement of traffic of people and vehicles from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran.
3. Only allow movement of people and vehicles from Kuwait and Jordan, via U.S. checkpoints.

Let the Bagdad people sort themselves out.

amg503

A phased withdrawal of our troops. Over a certain amount of time, say a year maybe, our troops should be slowly phased out of the areas of Iraq they're protecting, and replaced with the Iraq army.

The Iraqis must be allowed to self-protect, along with being able to self-rule. They currently have the best fighting force in the world to protect them; having them stand down would require the Iraqis to stand up and really fight for their country.

After the withdrawal is complete, a contingency of troops can remain behind, and maintain a base that will help train Iraqi soldiers, and consult in security issues.

Doc Hudson

There are only three options.

Option #1
Stay ten to twenty more years. Hammer the insurgents as hard as possible while educating a new generation of Iraqis in the intricacies Western-style democratic processes. To do this, we will need to take over full control of the Iraqi educational system and indoctrinate children from kindergarten through college. This will be costly in terms of blood and money, but it should result in leaving a strong ally behind when we withdraw our troops.

Option #3

Prosecute the war with the utmost ruthlessness. Institute a take no prisoners policy, and execute large numbers of Iraqis for every torture death, or IED death. Such a policy will either make the Iraqis turn on the terrorists that are causing their suffering or they will turn on us and give us a stunning defeat.

Option #3

Announce a withdrawal date, start packing and retreat. The withdrawal will end in a bloodbath as insurgents harry withdrawing troops who loose their morale and end up in a blind rout that will make the evacuation of the US Embasy in Saigon look like a high society teaparty. In addition to the heavy losses we would suffer in the retreat from Iraq, terrorist will be encouraged by the lack of American determination and they will redouble their terror attacks. You can bet on at least one nuclear or dirty bomb attack as a result.

Of the three options, I think #1 is the only one with an opportunity for actual success.

Doc Hudson

Any Republican 2012

All the liberals right now are going "a strategy?? duh, i don't know. all i know is Bush is wrong."

Vampire 13R

Get on plane, leave. Point vehicle toward Kuwait, leave

Most Shiites and about 25% of Sunnis support Muqtada al Sadr. Our best strategy would be to wish him well and hope his successor comes around, like Vietnam.

stryker_matt

It is like vietnam, the republicans say we can win the war, and the democrats say we should pull out, but the truth is we can't win against an dedicated insurgency, and if we pull out there will be massive collateral damge and a government unfriendly to the U.S. would take power. The Pres. will just has to make a hard decision.

gregory_dittman

The U.S. might not totally leave. They could set up a military college/police academy in northern Iraq.

The U.S. is still training the Iraqi police and soldiers with about 2/3 finishing training and or being supplied.

Four providences out of eighteen have already been handed back to Iraq and the Iraqi police and soldiers are patrolling 17 out of 18 providences. I think by next May all 18 providences will be handed over to Iraq. The U.S. might still be in Baghdad, but the insugencey violence has dropped 50% from last year so they are hurting pretty bad. Already the Sunnis have split with and have been attacking Al-Qaida.

The trained police and soldiers might not be enough though and of course the die, quit or retire so somebody has to keep training the Iraqis till the insurgency breaks.

Sykopup

I read a news story about Iraqi citizens joining with American forces to get the insurgents out of their town. If we could convince more of Iraq's people to do this, then we would be able to begin troop withdrawal. Without support from the people, things will never get resolved.

avatar of the unification

why leave iraq,..the threats on this country are made by incompetant terrorist sideshows,..the real threats are where we have our troops,..no wmd have been found, i wonder what was going on during the clinton regime while saddam hussein was violating no fly zones, hindering un inspections,..any cia operatives find out any info on the tunnels,..hillary and many other prominent democrats said he had them or did the cold war turn the united states into cold turds,..we just need to focus and not do a hitler three front war,..thin to win barely works at spades or pinochle,..overwhelming force crushed the iraqi military again,..now the strategy should be to fight insurgent style,..special forces teams,..ied displacement teams,..seek and destroy the insurgents,..dog teams, emp to cut their triggering devices off,..these weapons were smuggled out and now they are smuggled in,..the only one getting into this country is the mexican national and the wet foot dry foot,..

i e a e,..
avatar of the unification,..

sgtnikp

While the stated reasons for going in were incorrect at the least, we are there now, and have to finish the job.

If eight years of Clinton foreign policy proved nothing else, it proved that pulling out only emboldens our enemies to more action. So,... What would work?

A phased withdrawal, while supporting the Iraqis efforts to self government and security.

While we have to begin this process, setting a timetable will only give our opposition a date to look forward to. Anyone can hang on through bad times when they know exactly when relief is coming.

We have suffered casualties, and I grieve for each of them and their families. But the benefits we can gain from establishing a successful democratic government in the region will save lives in the future.

dumdum

Vote for Kucinich. He's the most clear on saying he has never supported the war and has always voted against it--while others continued to vote for war funding. He's right when he said you can't really be against the war, yet vote to continue funding it time and again.

adamas

you first have to get into the mindset of an insurgent. these people are uneducated and religiously oppressed. They are fed a twisted and molested view of Islam. They feel that what they do is justified in the eyes of god, that they are "religious martyrs". It would be like Satan and an army of demons discussing how they can get Christians to work side-by-side with them. Americans in general can not understand the world in which these people are brought up in. The only thing that will break them is a transformation from within. You're talking about breaking down the local militias and death squads. These people will only be strengthened by key players being killed. To die in a holy battle is a most glorious end for these individuals. Most people look at this from a political standpoint and don't even take the religious fanaticism into consideration. It would take nothing short than a worldwide effort from notable Islamic teachers and experts to show these people the true way of Islam. That is the only way. You must not only cut off the lion's head you have to show the body the truth before it can re-grow another. If that is even possible, it is the only way to stop the spread of violence so rebuilding efforts can commence. Rebuilding and re-instating civil services so these people have something to live for is the first step towards stabilizing the government. Getting the government and it's army up to par and self-sufficient is the only way a phased withdrawal can take place. We are so far in the hole that it seems impossible, and i believe will not even be conceivable until we get some fresh blood in the oval office. Democrats want us to withdrawal now, but it will only make things worse like bush says. Republicans will hold out on withdrawal as long as possible so this will most definitely be thrown into the lap of the next president.

hemihead_38

Start the Draft, send in 300,000 Troops and it will be over in a month.

BOBO

Vote for Ron Paul as president.

sgtlambsonswife

There is no way to win this one. We can continue throwing American lives at it but I don't believe it's a war to be won. First of all we're trying to fight and follow the Geneva Conventions against people who have no qualms about sending their women and children to die with bombs strapped to them. People like that have no respect for life.

We are also fighting against people who are poor, uneducated and super-religious. So many of them are still unemployed, and getting paid to take up a gun against the Americans can seem like the only option. These people are so uneducated and so brainwashed that they'll never be grateful to us or see us as liberators. They will always see us as "infidels". They have been fighting each other for thousands of years and will continue to do so long after we're gone. As for phasing out our troops and replacing them with the Iraqi police and national guard? They're completely inept and mostly corrupt. So that's not really much better than a complete and abrupt withdrawal, is it?

We cannot say that we will just stop the funding. If we do that, what will happen to the troops on ground who can no longer get supplies or even have the money to get out? That is not an option.

I do not believe that the threat against America lies in Iraq. I don't believe it ever did. If you really want to defeat these "terrorists" you need to look to Afghanistan. That's where so much of the funding comes from in the form of poppies. Why aren't we giving these farmers another way to make money? We cannot fight this "insurgency" with violence. Only with education and the opportunity for them to support their families with other means. We MUST win the hearts and minds of the common man over there so he will not desire to align himself with terrorists.

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