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What
will it take to get our troops out of Iraq?
The roughly 70 percent of Americans who are firmly against the war often ask
this question. Those in power are reluctant to give conditions, but
when they do and those conditions are met, the goal post is quietly moved.
Voters
were promised, passionately and vehemently, that the new Congress would bring
our troops home. Many were explicitly elected in 2006 under that
banner. But our troops are still overseas, funding has been increased
even beyond the administration's wish list, and troop withdrawal has been
negotiated away.
When
things are going badly in Iraq,
they say we must stay until the situation improves. When things
improve, they tell us we must stay because our gains cannot be jeopardized.
We
are told that we must establish a functioning democracy there, and train
Iraqi armed forces so they can keep order in our absence. Iraq
now has a Constitution, an elected parliament, and hundreds of thousands of
security forces. The problem now is that their troops are supposedly
not trained quite well enough, and that could take many more years. Defining an adequate training level
for Iraqi troops is highly nebulous and its anyone's guess when or how that criteria could be satisfied.
The
latest outrage came last week. For years we heard the administration
claim over and over that the Iraqi government wants us there, and is begging
us to stay. On the other hand, all they had to do was ask and we would
respect their wishes and leave. That also has now happened. Al-Maliki perhaps took his cue from his challenger, al-Sadr, who has been clamouring
for us to leave for years. Popular opinion in Iraq
now mirrors that in the United
States, with about 70percent of Iraqis
wishing us to leave.
At
the end of the year, our Status of Forces Agreement expires. Without a
new agreement and understanding with the Iraqi government regarding our
presence there, we officially become occupiers.
Eventually
our troops will leave Iraq.
The overwhelming will of the people, in both countries, can't seem to get
them out. Things going well can't get them out. Things going
badly can't get them out. Iraqis telling us to leave can't get them
out. Perhaps not even the UN can get them out. My hope is that it
does not take the complete collapse of our financial system, but if we don't
leave under any other circumstances, economic chaos is inevitable,
and will make it impossible to fund the war, even through debt and inflation.
We
have been financing this war through inflation, and attempting to paper over
reality with misleading economic indicators. The government has changed
the methodology of calculating things like CPI and GDP to hide the bad
news. They won't even publish M3, the total money supply statistic
anymore. But reality is hitting the American people at gas pumps and
grocery stores, sending more Americans into foreclosure and unemployment
lines. More are hurting while Washington
keeps forgetting its promises. Eventually, this will all come to a
head.
Perhaps
an even greater fear is that even if our financial trouble doesn't get our
troops out of Iraq,
moving them over to fight a new war in Iran,
will. Washington should
be crystal clear on this very important point – just getting the
troops out of Iraq
means nothing. Bringing them HOME means everything, and that is what
the people in both countries demand.
Ron Paul
www.house.gov/paul
Congressman Ron Paul
of Texas
enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics
today. Dr. Paul is the leading
spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes,
free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed
currency. For more information click on the Project Freedom website.
Published with the authorization of Dr. Paul.
Copyright Dr. Ron Paul
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