Quote Originally Posted by Spektrewing386
1. If the US was to retreat from Iraq what, in your opinion, would be the outcome in Iraq?
My opinion is using the, im not going to say retreat, i'm going to call it reverse occupation. Using the reverse occupation plan of Obama, which is a withdrawel over a 1.5 year period with some special forces behind to help out the Iraqi National Army and Iraqi police. We will see a reduction in violence due to the insurgent's call for no American military in Iraq. While the trained Iraqi National Army and police subdue the areas with militant's whos only goal is killing the other Islamic sect (Sunni vs Shiite) and militant's goals of obtaining power through violence rather than the politcal process. No foreign armies in Iraq will instill a greater sense of sovereignty and pride to the Iraqi people, calling themselves a sovereign nation unhindered by Western leaders telling them what to do. To be considered a nation rather than America's *****, it should be refreshing to them.


2. Would that eventual outcome be detrimental or favorable to the security of the US and its foreign based intrests?
It would be favorable to our security. We will be allowing the American military to do their job and not get side-tracked by Iraq. There are still Al-Qaeda operatatives out there. And it will take highly skilled intelligence agents to keep track of the sleeper cells. And small spec ops operations to take down training camps if any left. Step up Interpol and cooperation between nation's intelligence agencies. And remember you shouldn't use a cannon to kill a fly. I believe we ourselves are propigating anti-american hate by doing what we do... Did the Nazi's call the partisan soldier's of Europe terrorists? If you look at it, they kind of acted like the anti-american insurgents of Iraq (not the sunni vs shiite ones, those guys are insane).

So yes, the outcome will be favorable to our security. As long as we remember to not piss off the world, it will be good.

We may not agree, but its nice to see an actual intelligent response.

My biggest worry about leaving Iraq before the country is stable and the Iraqi military and police are really up to speed is Iran. Considering the fact that they have funded, trained and supplied the insurgency in Iraq for this long leads me to think they will immediately become involved in force when the US leaves. This will elad to us havig to go back into Iraq under much less favorable condition than even in 03.

First we will have to deal with the Iranian military who have not been subject to such strict embargos and have a much more advanced military than Iraq did. Second, and much more importantly, we will have to start all over with hearts and minds with Iraqi citizens. We are winning that battle now on a grand scale, and I have a feeling that with another year we still start to see a real national identity take hold there.

There are still areas of concern in Iraq, but recently the Iraqi police/military have taken operational control in the Anbar Province which was at one time one of the more unstable regions. There is still a US presence there, but it is mainly logistical, intelligence and air support. US troops are more in an advisory role now. A friend of mine who is still active duty and is in Iraq told me that they started an NCO leadership and tactics course outside of Baghdad to increase the effectiveness of small units.