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2013 has gone down in the books as one of the bloodest years in Iraq. Most of this violence is being blamed on the growing number of Iraq's Al Qaeda branch. According to the article shared below, the U.N. says 759 people were killed in the month of December.
Of course, there are those pressing the current administration to send troops back into Iraq and help reduce the violence. Seeing that we have been out of the country since 2011; what are your thoughts? Do you think we should go back into Iraq ? Should we even concern ourselves with what is going on in Iraq?
Violence in Iraq soared in 2013 to levels not seen in years, U.N. officials reported this week, stoking concerns that the country is descending into the kind of sectarian bloodshed that gripped the co...
Iraq
DoD
Violence
Posted >1 y ago
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<p>We left based on predetermined political timetable; not as a course of action dictated by strategic successes. The good done over the last decade has been undone since our announced departure. Telling the whole world we were leaving allowed those who would do us, and those like us, harm the opportunity to simply sit and wait for our departure. Once we were out of the way, the door was open to create the havoc we now see. Eventually, the terrorists will destabilize Iraq to such a degree that it will become a staging area just like they did Afghanistan. </p><p><br></p><p>We have a choice. Fight Al Qaeda there or fight them here.</p>
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SGT Ben Keen
I didn't create this post to stir up any controversy. I created to all people here to voice their thoughts. As one that served in the country in 2003 and again in 2006; I stings a little to read that all the positive steps forward we guided that country through are quickly being erased and all the violence could result in service members once again being dispatched to the same cities we fought over 10 years ago.
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LTC Paul Labrador
Well said, Master Chief. We are going to have to fight them eventually. Pay now or pay bigger later. However, one good thing about going back now is that ISIS have risen up and made themselves a nice, big conventional target. It would be much easier to fight them in the current environment than if they went to ground again, and resumed a guerilla war.
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What good would that do? It is there country, let them come up with ways to solve their internal problems. We are not responsible for every nation on the planet. I say we stay out and let them deal with it however they see fit.
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1SG Michael Blount
Absolutely not. We shouldn't have been there in the first place. Two years after the last set of American boots left country, the Shiá and Sunnis are still duking it out.
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We should only go back if we are REALLY resolved to do the job right the next time.
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SFC Matthew Parker
LTC Labrador,
With respect Sir, but do what job right? We killed insurgents, we took and maintained control of the cities and towns, PRT's rebuilt every little village, we secured the country so the Iraqis could hold elections and we trained and equipped the Army.
The only possible way to change the outcome would have been to appoint you as their Prime Minister. Your CSM as the Minister of Defense and your S-3 Shop as the Iraqi cabinet.
They can't work together or won't work together with the present PM and I am hoping the Parliament throws him out and the President appoints a new PM who will unite the country.
The biggest obstacle to peace and prosperity in Iraq is the Iraqi's. We can't change that unless we want to do a Korea or Bosnia operation for generations.
With respect Sir, but do what job right? We killed insurgents, we took and maintained control of the cities and towns, PRT's rebuilt every little village, we secured the country so the Iraqis could hold elections and we trained and equipped the Army.
The only possible way to change the outcome would have been to appoint you as their Prime Minister. Your CSM as the Minister of Defense and your S-3 Shop as the Iraqi cabinet.
They can't work together or won't work together with the present PM and I am hoping the Parliament throws him out and the President appoints a new PM who will unite the country.
The biggest obstacle to peace and prosperity in Iraq is the Iraqi's. We can't change that unless we want to do a Korea or Bosnia operation for generations.
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LTC Paul Labrador
What is the end-state that is desirable in Iraq? A stable government that can take care of it's people and defend itself. That is what we said we did when we left. Obviously, we see that wasn't the case. Why? Because we left too soon. We were way too hands off. And the everyday Iraqi's knew it. That country had no leaders worth a damn left. Why? Because anyone with a hint of competence, ambition or drive either ended up dead by the hand of Saddam and his cronies or exiled. It takes a time to grow leaders, it takes time to grow an Army that places loyalty to their country, not a particular faction head. It takes time for the moderates to gain enough trust that we are not going to leave them hanging if push comes to shove, if they opt to buy in. You say it would take a multi-generational commitment. You are right, it will. But let's look at those multi-generational commitments and see what the we reaped from them: Japan - strong, stable nation and one of the leading economies in the world. Korea - strong, stable nation and one of the leading economies in the world. Germany - strong, stable nation and one of the leading economies in the world. So yes, long term commitment can pay off in the end. The problem is Americans nowadays want half-ass, feel good measures and want results without putting the work in.
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