Here we go again.
The military is lobbying to keep U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the December 31, 2011 treaty deadline and the Obama Administration may acquiesce.
The New York Times reported recently that the Pentagon is pressing to have 3,000 – 5,000 troops stay beyond the cut-off date agreed to by the Bush Administration – or more if they can get away with it.
The American military involvement in the Iraq War that started in 2003 has caused almost 4,500 American deaths and over 33,000 wounded — and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties.
The war has also already cost American taxpayers $800 billion dollars.
Despite all this, nine years of war is not enough for the Pentagon – or the Tiresome Trio of Generalissimo Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who call for even more troops to remain in Iraq.
If it were up to the Generals, U.S. troops would never leave Iraq or Afghanistan; indeed, we might still have troops winning hearts and minds in Vietnam had it not been for the overwhelming American public opposition to the war.
Lt. General Robert Gard (USA, Ret.), the chair of our associated Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, argues in a : “Maintaining U.S. troops in a hostile environment when an overwhelming majority of the population is adamantly opposed to their presence is not only foolhardy but also counter-productive,”
It seems to me that President Obama should listen to the American people and bring out troops home.
