Iraqis Don't Want Us There

When it came time for American troops to pull back from the urban areas in Iraq, the Iraqis celebrated like it was their Independence Day. They were thrilled to see the American soldiers leaving their streets. Of course, that's not exactly how the U.S. Military saw it.

Our military leaders wanted to keep some soldiers in the urban areas to "train" the Iraqis. They also wanted to continue the joint patrols with Iraqi troops in the cities. They also want American troops to be "meeting with paid informants, attending local council meetings and supervising U.S.-funded civic and reconstruction projects." In other words, they are interpreting the latest Iraqi-American agreement very loosely.

But the Iraqi government wants the agreement adhered to strictly. They have told our military leaders that not only all soldiers must withdraw from the cities, but all joint patrols must stop. Also, the American resupply convoys can only travel at night. Any deviations from this must be approved by the Iraqis. They want the Iraqi people to believe they are in control, and they think the way to do that is to keep all the Americans out-of-sight.

All of this is happening at a time when Pentagon officials say attacks are escalating on American troops. These officials think a strict adherence to the new rules will just escalate those attacks even more.

This whole thing is becoming quite a mess. It is obvious to anyone who looks that the Iraqis don't want us there anymore, and if we insist on staying, they want us out-of-sight and out of the way. Why on earth are we insisting on staying over two more years (until the end of 2011)? Are our leaders insane?

Haven't we done enough damage to that country? Is there really anything to be accomplished by staying? The answers to those two questions are yes and no. We have destroyed enough of their country, and the only thing we'll accomplish by staying is to lose more American soldiers to the senseless violence. We must finally realize that even though the Bush administration created this mess, it's only the Iraqis who can finally fix it.

President Obama should keep his campaign promise and have ALL of our troops out by mid-2010 (unless it can be done sooner). Iraq doesn't want us there and nothing positive can be achieved.