I would love to see Iraq turned fully back over to Iraqi control and our boys back home. BUT I dont want it to happen until it is stable to do so. I didn't want us there in the first place, but since we are there, we might as well do it right. I just get the feeling that Bush might pull us out just for the benefit of the election and not because Iraq is ready for us to pull out. As we all know, pulling out too early just isn't cool.....
Perrin - If Bush does keep his promise and pulls out in June, would you vote for him next November? I am asking because there are a number of Dems, Repubs, Independents, etc. that I have spoken with regarding this that insist that they would not vote for anyone who would pull out of Iraq before the "job is done"....even Bush.
uh, no keeping a promise to pull out of a situation he invented for the benefit of corporate greed doesn't score any points with me. I want us out of Iraq ASAP. But not at the risk of leaving the country seriously unstable and producing a Taliban like government. A true no-win situation.
<sarcasm>Mission Accomplished!!!</sarcasm> Our troups may have significant presence in Iraq for many years to come. Talking head analysts on TV say 5 years, which seems to be closer to the mark than 1-ish years Bush is suggesting. Even after Iraqi's first democratically elected govenment takes office (end of 2005), I strongly suspect that the US will want to have a military presence in the country, epsecially if forward-leaning neo chicken cons are still in power.
Bush says U.S. forces won't leave Iraq - - - - - - - - - - - - Nov. 17, 2003 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Monday the United States will not pull out of Iraq when a provisional government is established by July 1. Bush made the promise in a meeting with Iraqi women who told the president of the hardships they had suffered under Saddam Hussein. "I assured these five women that America wasn't leaving," Bush said in the Oval Office. "When they hear me say we're staying, that means we're staying," Bush said. Under a plan reached between the United States and the Iraqi Governing Council, the country's political transition will be sped up with the formation of an interim government by midyear. Bush, in a brief exchange with reporters, brushed aside a question about whether the creation of a provisional authority marked the start of an exit strategy for the United States. "The politics will go forward. The political process is moving on. The Iraqi people are plenty capable of governing themselves," the president said. He said the United States was working with the Iraqi council to put in place laws to get the country running. Pledging no hasty withdrawal of American forces, Bush said, "We fully recognize that Iraq has become a new front in the war on terror. He said that various factors and terrorists "want to test the will of the civilized world. "We will work with Iraqis to bring people to justice," Bush said. Bush said that a free Iraq was in the interest of the United States. "A free Iraq in a part of the world that is troublesome and dangerous will set such a good example," he said. "We're talking about a historic opportunity to change parts of the world. And Iraq will be the leader of that change." One of the women pleaded with Bush to keep U.S. forces in Iraq. "We don't want them to leave us ... we need them at this time," she said, seated on a couch by the president. Bush also said recent terrorist attacks around the world demonstrate the true nature of the al-Qaida terrorist network. "They'll kill innocent people anywhere, anytime," he said. "That's just the way they are. They have no regard for human life." He said al-Qaida tries to create chaos by killing. "There's only one way to deal with al-Qaida: find them and bring them to justice," Bush said.
I thought this excerpt was funny in it's own way. http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1118/p02s01-woiq.html Media caught in Iraq's war of perceptions Many Americans have seen news coverage as overly negative, but mounting troop deaths test support for war. . . . In September, Vice President Dick Cheney, appearing on television, cited a poll that he said showed 60 percent of Iraqis wanting US forces to stay in Iraq "at least" another year. He failed to state that the same poll showed 64 percent of Iraqis want the US to leave within a year, says Zogby, whose firm conducted the poll. . . .
