"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana
History can teach us many things. Some of these can be in the realm or medicine, philosophy, or even science. However history can also teach us many things about government, economics, and military.
One of these lessons would be for our leaders to be flexible and not be stubborn by pursuing one goal to its death and then keep pursuing it. Adolph Hitler had made this mistake in operation Barbarosa when he invaded Russia. He refused to make even a slight strategical retreat which lost him the battle of Stalingrad, and possibly even the war if looked at in a broader view. By being stubborn he allowed his starving, frost-bitten, ill-prepared troops to fight the near endless Russian forces at Stalingrad in the freezing cold. This probably cost him the entire war. This is a lesson that has been taught to practically every high schooler that has taken a history course. However it seems that this lesson has never reached the current administration. They seem to be hell-bent on trying to keep this strategy in Iraq even though it has been completely disastrous. We have been in Iraq longer than we were in World War II and we haven't been able to address ANY of the problems facing the Iraqis when we got there. In fact, some of these problems may have been intensified because of our presence. By us staying in Iraq we are blatantly disregarding the wishes of the people of America and even the people of Iraq. We have to know when to hold and keep going, but we also have to know when fold and leave.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601721.html
By leaving now we can salvage whatever respect we have left with the rest of the world. We need to leave now. The pros of leaving easily outweigh the cons in this matter. First of all, we actually invaded Iraq on false pretenses, and no we are staying there with no end is sight. This probably makes America look arrogant causing other nations to dislike and despise America. Another thing people try to say will happen is that we will be less safe. We are actually making ourselves less safe by staying in Iraq. We are giving the terrorist organizations a common enemy by staying in Iraq. This compounded with the fact that we are actually killing them gives people that haven't joined them yet a reason to. Not to mention we have been throwing money at this problem for years, and we are now in the largest debt and deficit we have ever known. If we left, we would actually have a surplus and we would be able to have enough money to help maintain our safety in our own country.
To anyone who disagrees with me, why should we stay in Iraq? But before you tell me, ask yourself this, its it worth it to stay in this "quagmire" in Iraq and sacrifice the middle class of this country while we're at it? Not to mention those troops we are sending into Iraq? The money we save from Iraq could help the people in our own country. We should help our own country live without being on life support before we try and fix other people's countries.
2 comments:
Yes, but don't you think that the people who serve in the military know the cost of their service. I know the cost of my enlistment. I am a professional and a volunteer who is in service to the US Army. I will be deployed no matter what. It is an honor to serve my country. Remeber that freedom is never free. Think of how many innocent Iraqi's would die if we weren't there to protect and train a police force. Do you really want facist in your own backyard? If we pulled out there is a high chance that we could be fighting in our own backyard next.
There are plenty of people that would give their life for America, but the problem is that we shouldn't just throw these people at countries for no reason. Also, yes, we have a moral obligation to help these people, but we also have a moral obligation to help our own people, how are we going to help people halfway across the globe when people in our own yard are losing jobs, becoming homeless, and committing crimes?
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