Petraeus Warns Against Quick Pullback in Iraq

A couple of days ago I came across this article that caught my attention. There is also a video of general Petraeus's report to congress.This interested me greatly because my brother is currently a sergeant in the United States Marine Core and was just sent to Iraq for the second time in 2 years. This article discusses the strong objection the senior American commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, has against the pullback of troops in Iraq. On Monday September 10, Petraeus presented his argument in the Cannon Caucus room in Washington, where many past debates between Congress and the White House have been held. The general was determined that the strategy, favored by the Democrats, would be ineffective and potentially hurtful to the progress of American objectives in Iraq. He feels that the situation in Iraq “remains complex” and that the only way to successfully complete American objectives in Iraq is “over time.” Many anticipated a lot of tension between Democrats and strong supporters of the war, but that wasn’t the case on Monday because the warnings given by such a high ranking officer, with medals on his chest and four stars on his shoulder, would be hard to argue against. According to the article, Petraeus along with Ryan C. Crocker, where once again put in the uncomfortable position of having to appeal Congress in order for them to give more time for their strategy to work. Due to the amount of time as well as the amount of lives lost, many, especially from the Democratic party, have started to lose faith in the efforts and strategies of the arm forces in Iraq. Despite a lot of opposition, Petraeus’s reassured his audience that objectives in Iraq are being met, and more specifically objectives and actions against “Alkida Iraq” are also being met.

I am a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, and I feel that removing troops from Iraq at this point in time would not be wise, and at the same time would sacrifice all the efforts and progress that America has already achieved in Iraq. I understand that countless lives have been lost, but I feel we are too far in to stop now. I believe that if America pulls back troops and begins to eliminate its presents in Iraq too soon then all the countless soldiers that gave their lives died in vain.