What would happen if U.S. forces were pulled out of Iraq?

Paul in San Diego

Bush Administration officials predict that, if the US pulls out of Iraq, that country will sink into utter chaos and the terrorists will follow us home.

Then again, every prediction the Bush Administration has made on Iraq has been completely wrong. What makes anyone think they would start getting it right now?

Personally, though, I think that Iran would step in and offer to help the Iraqis, now that Saddam is gone and there is a power vacuum in Iraq. Ironically enough, Iran would then get the political and economical advantages that the Bush administration spent hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars and thousands of U.S. lives to acheive (and fail at doing so).

And, as for the terrorists following us home, the reason they hate us is because we are over there. Why did bin Laden want to attack the U.S.? Because of our presence/influence in Saudi Arabia and because of our support for Israel.

Besides, the Sunni/Shiite conflict has been going on for centuries. I think it was very arrogant and stupid of this administration to think we could simply depose the Iraqi dictator and everything would just be hunky-dory (you know ... being greeted as liberators, having flowers and candy thrown at the soldiers' feet, have a democracy up and running within a few months, etc.).

We should just cut our losses where they are, back away gracefully, and let the Arab world determine their own direction and fate.

caldude1010101

Iraq is a complete disaster now, so not much will change.

Other than the shi'ites will get their way and hand the govt. over to Iran.

But they are going to wait out the US and hand the govt. over anyway. So it really doesn't matter in the long run.

please_ban

disaster

I don't know but I have a gut feeling that when we pull out things are going to go really bad.

God Only Knows

If U.S. Forces now without cleaning up the left over resistance, some kind of dictatorship will rise to power again sort of like a cancer. And then all of the innocent civilians that died (By accident, I'm sure) will have died for no reason.

As for the second part of your question I don't know much about the government in Africa, but in Iraq or any other country where all the power is given to the select few, the reason they don't want democracy is because they leaders in charge don't want to give up their power. That is why democracy is met with such resistance.

smartblonde

Absolute Chaos, much much worse than now.

Greenie

We'd soon be fighting in Massachusetts and New York. I we pull out and come home, they will follow us. Guaranteed.

regerugged

Everyone understands it would be a catastrophe. People killing people for no reason, especially when it can be avoided, is not something anyone would take responsibility for. In the US civil war, there were major economic issues that were fought over: slavery and states rights. At that time there was no one to keep the warring factions apart. So there is no similarity. Nothing good comes of a civil war. The US became great because of the people and the government, not because of anything gained from fighting.

Wolfpacker

Our civil war did not have Al Qeada fueling it.
If an overt group had helped one side & funded it while supplying troops, the capital could be in Atlanta.
Do we want Al Qeada picking a goverment with the power of Iraq? I don't.

Daniel

i think if we pulled out of iraq some of the violence would stop because the people of iraq wouldnt be trying to kill soldiers anymore. but i do think its good were their and trying to help them out. although its not really worth it losing the lives we have.

ÃÃªÃ¹Â§

there would be a long and bloody civil war ending with someone like saddam back in power

your comparison to the civil war is kinda flawed you should compare more with the war of independance

george washington was asked by his generals after the war of independance if he wanted to rule like a dictator

he replied with "i didnt overthrow george 3rd to become george the first"

but for one mans decision America could be wayyyyy different

in most cases men will not act that way.....power corrupts after all....which is the problem

TMinus10

At the time I don't think people were thinking that US Civil War was such a good thing.

African countries don''t have the ready oil of the Middle East. Goole Peak OIL

Henry VIII

At first there may be chaos but the people of the region will solve the problems as they have for the last 3000 years.

B.Kevorkian

Ultimately, the likely outcome would be a Shiite victory - they have the numbers, and they have a supportive neighbor in Iran. Iraq would then presumably become a Shiite-controlled nation, beholden to Iran, quite possibly another Theocracy in the Iranian mould. Though, to what degree Arab-Persian emnity might degrade that relationship is hard to say. The Iraqi Shiites certainly have a history of cooperating with Iran.

Shorter term, of course, Al Qaeda would claim a 'great victory' in driving the American Crusaders from the Sacred Soil of the Caliphate, with attendant rise in recruitment and flows of money from sympathetic Arab Muslims who really haven't had a concrete victory to hang thier pride on in living memory.

grinninh

Countries like Iran,Syria and Russia will see us as weak. It will illustrate to the world we have no commitment or purpose.
The calm we have been fortunate to live in since 9/11 would be officially over.

ms.jackson...

we are not still fighting a war in Iraq we did what we went over there to do, now we are dealing with the consequences of it... Iraq is in a civil war... Basically if we leave now on of three things will happen... Iraq will continue on a path towards self destruction. 2. a leader will arise which could be a good or a bad thing, either way it will be another dictatorship and will put the country back in some form of order... three Iran will take over the rebuilding of Iraq! Either way I don't think they will follow us home. They might take us up on war crime charges, and we might end up paying reparations... perhaps that is why Bush doesn't want to leave, him and cheney don't want to get caught with their hand in the cookie jar... or the oil refinery in this case! Oh and Africa is a great example of countries that have overcome horrible things... look at Rwanda there was a horrible Genocide there and now the people live in peace for the most part under a democracy... I know I've been!

aabigaa2

nothing good would happen if we just pulled out

Its not a civil war in Iraq. Civil wars are between people from the same country and are started by those same people. This war we started.

Bulk O

The way I see it those people have been fighting for thousands of years, and they will continue to for as long as they exist. We will pull out some time and they will go back to it until one side crushes the other and puts another dictator in place.

As for the democratic process, well I don't believe in it. People mistake democracy for what we have.. If you have just democracy 5 people can vote to kill 1 person just "because 5 against 1". We are suppose to be a Republic which says that the rights of 1 is more important then the 5 unless the 1 threatens the 5. Also we have systems in place we take for granted that they don't have. You take it for granted that if you sign a contract with someone and they go back on it, you can take them to court and they will protect your rights. But in many countries that claim now to be democratic this and other rights are not a given.

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