Stand down. Homeward bound.
Families want to see their loved ones again. Children deserve fathers and mothers. American troops in Iraq will be coming home. There will be a complete U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Karen DeYoung and Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post report that President Obama will announce plans to withdraw the majority of the 142,000 U.S. troops currently serving in Iraq by August 31, 2010. Until the close of 2011, as many as 50,000 will remain. By 2012, American families with loved ones returned will be whole again.
“A very hard end date”
January 1, 2012 will be set as the deadline for final withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq.
President Obama’s senior civilian and military advisers helped formulate this timetable. They see it as “the best way to manage the exit” without jeopardizing Iraqi security. For America, however, some Democrats object that 50,000 troops is “too many to leave behind.” Republicans, however, were largely supportive. Arizona Senator John McCain said he “supports the plan to leave 50,000 troops in Iraq as briefed by [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] Admiral [Michael] Mullen and [Defense] Secretary [Robert M.] Gates.”
Coming home to economic trouble
On the fields of battle, there appears to be little concern in Iraq’s government. “We have faith in our armed forces and our security services, to protect the country and consolidate security and stability,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said. “We have no worries for Iraq if American troops pull out. Thank God we have succeeded in ridding ourselves of sectarianism and racism.”
For the most part, American citizens are happy about the prospect of the troop withdrawal from Iraq. However, there are economic concerns. For workers in the defense industry, President Obama’s pledge to cut back defense spending has them worried. While the president has spoken of a 2.9 percent pay raise for the military, many feel it won’t be enough under the current economy. That’s why resources to help military families save money is so valuable now.
If Obama wants to reduce the budget dramatically, one of the biggest spending items over the last thirty years has been the military. It isn’t that we don’t need one – far from it – but it couldn’t be said that there aren’t some costs there that couldn’t be cut, and a lot of other spending tickets to go with it. I don’t think we need to fund any more fact finding missions where Congressmen fact find on golf courses.