Iraq - Time to Leave

Regardless of whether you believe or don't believe that the US invasion of Iraq was wise or justified, the US did invade Iraq and has the ethical responsibility of providing the Iraqi people a reasonable opportunity to develop and implement a system of self governance. Note that I say the US owes the people of Iraq the opportunity for them to develop a replacement system of governance. The US is not responsible for delivering a replacement system but only for providing assistance, security, expertise and funds which Iraq would use to develop their own system of government. After 6 years, I believe that the US has successfully fulfilled their obligation and it is long past time that the US withdraws from Iraq as soon as possible. The US has spent thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars providing security, institutions, elections and infrastructure improvements. We have no further obligation.

Unfortunately, it appears that developments in Iraq point to the probability that Iraq will replace the secular, Ba'ath police state of Saddam Hussein with a Shia police state. Currently, the government of Nouri al-Maliki is engaging in the wide spread arrest and detention of opposition members, control of the media, torture, forced confessions and executions which characterized the Hussein administration.

Furthermore, if the US continues to stay in Iraq, there is a distinct possibility that the US will be drawn into one or more significant regional disputes.

The major power centers in Iraq are currently the nationalist Shias under Nouri al-Maliki, the religious Shias aligned with Iran who will probably be headed by Ahmad Chalabi (the same guy who pushed the US into invading Iraq and who provided a large part of the intelligence relating to Iraqi WMD's that provided the justification to invade Iraq that was later proven to be fabricated), the Sunnis and the Kurds.

There is the distinct possibility that the Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi central government will come to blows over control of the oil rich area around Kirkuk in the north. There is a distinct possibility that Turkey will support the Kurds and that the northern border will experience periodic border clashes and occasionally be on the verge of an all out limited war.

I think that over the next few years there is the distinct possibility that the Nationalist Shias and the Shias aligned with Iran will come to blows. It is likely that the Nationalist Shias under al-Maliki will resort to the same police state practices that Saddam Hussein used to keep the Shias in line which will only increase tensions between Iran and Iraq.

The US risks significant military involvement and significantly damaging relations with other regional powers were the US to remain. We have met our obligations and it is time to leave Iraq - now.