By Fareed Zakaria, CNN
President Obama announced Friday that all U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraq by the end of the year. It is important to point out this is the disappointment for the United States. The United States was in active negotiations with the Iraqi government to try to retain a residual force. The Central Command of the United States wanted a force much larger than 2,000 or 3,000. The debate that was taking place in the American Administration was whether to have 15,000 troops. Clearly, what happened was on the Iraqi side, they were simply not able to muster the political coalition to make the deal work. And that tells you that there were strong enough forces on - let us for simplicity sake call it the "pro-Iranian side" of the Iraqi political spectrum, the Muqtada al Sadr's of the world and others - that made it very difficult for this to move forward.
So here we are in a situation where we will lose, without any question, day-to-day influence in Iraq and the Iranians will gain it. I think that it does fulfill a promise that President Obama had made, but there was a very easy path to maintaining some kind of force level if this status of forces agreement had been negotiated. Clearly what happened was the Iraqis were unwilling to make that deal happen and so the president decided in that context he was going to make clear that there was no circumstance in which American troops were going to stay in Iraq without the legal status of forces agreement that we have with any country where we have troops stationed.
Now, is it realistic that all the blood and treasure the U.S. invested in Iraq might, in the end, emerge as a Iranian strategic victory? I think there is a distinct possibility of that. And it tells us that there was a dramatic misconception of Iraq from the start. We never really understood the country we were getting involved in. We never understood the exiles who we empowered. The president of Iraq, Mr. Talibani, the prime minister of Iraq, Mr. Maliki, has spent years in Iran. They were funded by Iran. They speak Persian fluently. They have close relations with the leader of the Quds force, General Suleimani.
So the idea that they would not have some kind of close connection and the way in which the United States entered this almost blithely assuming that because we were the liberators and we were getting rid of a bad guy, all of Iraq would rise in our support, just shows that there was at both a strategic and a tactical level, a game very badly played and now we are reaping the consequences of that. I don't think there was much the Obama administration could do at this point. There were many forces within Iraq that did want to do the deal with the United States, just not enough. And so we face a situation where we will have to redouble our efforts politically and diplomatically.
In this part of the world, nothing helps soft power more than hard power. In other words, if you're going to try to have influence and be persuasive and have an impact on decision making, it sure helps to be militarily powerful, strong, consequential and having had a certain number of American troops that would be crucial to training the Iraqi army would be very useful. What remains to be seen is who will play that role because the Iraqi army sure needs help. They have been trained by the Americans. If the Americans are going to withdraw, somebody is going to have to fill that vacuum.
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Fareed, I usually agree with your editorials, but I have to disagree this time. It has LONG been time to put the useless Iraq "war" behind us. I am glad to see us leaving this open-ended money pit. This place has for too long sucked the lives and treasure out of our own country for no good reason.
Yup.
What can you do? This bloody war had cost at least a trillion. The U.S. can't afford to stay on, despite uncertainties!
I totally agree. The time to get out was before we went in. The Iraq war has been a tragic waste of American and Iraqi lives as wll as U.S. treasure. We need to invest our money in our own infrastructure not that of Iraq. The so called American interests that promote this war are the U.S. military complex and the Israeli lobby.
Can you please give evidence that the Israel lobby promoted the invasion of Iraq.
Yes! Google "Did Israel Urge Us to go to War in Iraq." You will find your answer.
What a joke Hoodnik (or should I say HOODWINK!) You would have to be born yesterday to not know that Israel pushed us into Iraq exactly as they are trying to now push us into Iran. But this time it won't work because we're finally awake!
shirley and homely: charter members of every bad thing that has ever happened, and will happen in the future, is the fault of Israel. Got your little lapel pin?
Sure the AIPAC lobby got us in there why not? They didn't want Israel to sacrifice their own soldiers and treasure. And they didn't have to. They Occupy the US congress. Do you blame AIPAC for being clever? no. I blame 80% of the American public for being blithering idiots.
only one example? How about aipac the most influential lobby in washington?
Seems like I remember you boobs saying it was for the oil then. Now its the military complex and the Israelis! good grief unbelievable.
Where do you think we got all that BS about weapons of mass destruction. Not the CIA or Interpol... It came from Tel-Aviv. You are damn straight Israel wanted us to go into Iraq.
NUT-IN-YAHOO is on record with King George as supporting this entire endeavor.
Just another solid reason to bring our troops HOME; let Israel fight their own wars!
Israel is nothing but an anchor around the neck of the USA...
What another conspiracy theory. You guys are certainly comical.
CNN brings the libs out of the woodwork once again.
Yep...it is not where we fell...it is where we slipped...oh should I say where G W Bush slipped..or was pushed by Cheney..
Oh yes, of course, the war was being fought for Israel. And just how do you figure that? That war was started by GW Bush when Americans were still reeling from 09/11 and were screaming for payback. Bush believed (wrongly) what his advisers were telling him–that Hussein had WMD. Israel has her own problems, she is not pushing America into any wars. But hey, if you gotta blame somebody, Israel is the perfect scapegoat. Couldn't have been GW's decision, right? Refill the Kool-
Aid
No, it was all about the oil. Saddam Hussein wanted us to pay for Iraqi oil in EUROS instead of US dollars which means it would have cost more to purchase Iraqi oil.
I agree I do not think we should have been there in the first place. If the Saudi's and Isreal cannot handle their area why should we. Bush and Cheney got us in to this when most of the sane people said it was wrong. It still is wrong to be there when they do not want us nor have they ever wanted us there.
most of the sane?
the vote was almost 4 to 1 to go in, how quickly we forget or just make up what we want to say
I think you misunderstood the comment Dave
understood it perfectly. where either of you sane people allowed to see the intell the insane people were?? i know its fun to bash bush and all but you really have no idea and never will what the true reasons we went in were, you might have a different perspective if you really knew what you were talking about rather than assuming you do.
maybe thats why obama didnt have us out in the 18 months he had promised. he got to se the real picture
Yes, and Bush/Cheney will have to answer for those thousands and thousands of deaths–American and Iraqi. If I were they, I would not to meet my maker until I repented.
Scot,
I agree with you that we should'nt have been there in the first place. But as Dave responded that majority Americans were going banana about this war. Bush was flying high in popularity ratings ..... politicians did not wanted to be identified as anti-warrior -- Americans even bycotted French wines and named french fries as "Freedom Fries" just because a sovereign and "sane" country objected to war in U.N.
In all fairness to Dave, I must say the way I remember it most of the American public was all for the invasion of Iraq-myself included-we felt violated, we were angry, and we wanted to make someone pay......we were fed a bunch of cow manure as justification and we bought it gladly; however, once it became clear that we had been conned most of the country became disgusted with the war, that's how I perceive it anyhow.
Dave – What is certain is that Congress would have never approved going into Iraq if the intell we know now to be true was known at that time. Whether the intell was invented or based on incompetence is irrelevant. Sane people can and do make mistakes if the data they rely on is false. And at this point, we all now know that Saddam had no WMDs and little, if any, capacity to make them.
Let's remember that at that time, we controlled most of the airspace in Iraq 24/7 and had overwhelming military forces in close proximity. In other words, Saddam was securely in his box going nowhere and therefore, bothering no one outside Iraq except maybe Iran. We should have just waited out Saddam until he imploded which was just a matter of time with the sanctions the civilized world had on him. Taking him out definitely created a bigger problem with Iran.
Dave, We went in with4 to 1 vote, because we were told of imminent attacks and given gaurantee (remember – slam dunk) that have WMD by Bush, Cheney and friends. And the 1 out of 5 who disagreed were the unpatriotic one. You remember, dont you?
The polls that were taken leading up to the Iraq War were only as good as the questions asked. When asked if they supported an Iraq War in which NATO was involved, a majority of Americans supported it. When asked if they supported going to war in Iraq if it would primarily be just the United States without NATO support (the way we ended up doing it, BTW), only 30% of Americans supported the idea of going into Iraq. Lots of folks forget the polls that were taken that actually broke down the different options of going to war–they are very telling now.
But remember, if Bush cared one whit about the opinion of most Americans, he would have never taken the oath of office in the first place...
Dave.. Congress supported Iraq yes but since when has congress represented the opinions of the American people? While Bush was trying to make a connection between Al-Qaeda and Saddam's regime, let us not forget that some of the biggest war protests in the country took place in New York City. I do NOT agree that the American people were on board with this. The government may have been, but the government ISN'T what makes up America. The people are.
Agreed, we've given our energy. It's time for Iraq to determine its own destiny
Amen, Brother!
John, I agree with you....PLUS, all the reporters at CNN now make news, they do not report news anylonger.
In my opinion, if I were the final word, I would turn Irag and Iran into sand.
congrads larry, u have been promoted to gwb
Unfortunately, it is jingoistic and ignorant people like you all over the world including the Middle East who have gotten us into this mess.
Warmongering monsters like you are who I blame for the horrific loss of life, limb and treasure that this country has suffered.
Larry, you were born too late! You would have fit right in with Hitlers regime.
More to the point, let's face it – all we've done is stem the inevitable anyway. We'll have to see how loyal Iraqi Shiites are to Iran. That's really what it comes down to.
Zakaria is an analyst, not a reporter...this is meant to be editorial. That said, while I think Zakaria is bright and informative, I think he was wrong about getting into this (he was in favor of it) and wrong about getting out. Enough already.
Fortunately, none of you have ever lived under a brutal, military dictatorship. So I'll forgive your complete ignorance.
Those of us who have actually been out in the world and seen the good our actions have done, regardless of the reasons, know just how important the removal of Sadaam Hussein has been to the Middle East. Clearly, none of you have been following the news over the past few months. I say this because if you had, you would have noticed that dictators across the Middle East have been ousted by the people. Why do you think this happened? Because US forces showed them that these dictators are not all powerful.
Your ignorant bliss of a life blinds you to the fact that most people in that region of the world know nothing outside of what their state-run media tells them...which is that the United States is a nuisance at best and would be crushed by the military and religious might of these theocratic military dictators. So when they learned that Sadaam was EASILY run out by the United States, it put a crack in the armor. And the people have pressed upon that.
But don't tell the American people that. Especially the ones who have had absolutely nothing to do with this significant world changing movement. No, all they know is that somebody from Hollywood told them that it's all bad.
America. The greatest nation in the world wasted on the worst people in the world.
The invasion of Iraq led to the Arab Spring uprisings? Are you serious? If that's the case, then why did it take until 2011 for this to happen? If anything, the U.S. led Iraqi invasion of 2003 would have only reinforced the idea that these Arab populations are powerless to change their governments, and that only an outside military superpower such as the United States has the ability to oust such tyrants. Your ignorant, illogical, blindly U.S.-centric statement insults the courage and intelligence of the brave Arab people who have risen up against their dictators.
The recent uprisings had more to do with high food prices than with anything in Iraq. Plus, we would NEVER really leave Iraq. We went to Iraq for the OIL (U.S. policy to maintain world military power which relies heavily on control of oil worldwide), and we won't give up our massive fortified Embassy there that will protect our oil interests. Even after all the formal troops leave, we will still have over 10,000 there and spend billions per year. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/us-embassy-iraq-state-department-plan_n_965945.html Mark my words, we will not be leaving (other than just this political stunt to "formally" end the war due to campaign promises. If another country puts an embassy of that size on U.S. soil, do you think Americans will be comfortable with it?
Everyone seems to forget fast. Its all start with a street vendor in Tunisia. People fed up of abuse of power by local government and corruption. They cant take it no more. Repressive regimes created a vocano waiting to explode.
NO country has a right to go into another and dictate. PERIOD. Especially another culture and religion half way around the globe. You go into a country, it is with a passport, NOT with weapons and military. There is NO justifiction for any invasion of anyone. Hopefully this is the last country we will walk arrogantly into, thinking one human being is better than another. Our military stays within our own borders and defends it, as all other militarys do. Again, there is no justification to Iraq.
Ok Ben, we get that you think Dubbya was led by Jesus to invade Iraq to find WMD's, no.. to liberate the oppressed Iraqis, no... to spread democracy (evidently Dubbya doesn't realize we're not a democracy), no... to stop Al Qaeda...
Why do you think we invaded Iraq? Was it worth over 4,000 US lives and over 700 BILLION dollars? Sure, Ben. All because the public wanted to believe there must have been a good cause for them to chant USA! USA!. Turns out, it was all because we elected a doofus 'god-is-my-co-pilot' fundamentalist to be the president of a great country.
Greatest nation in the world wasted on the worst people... That seems contradictory. What makes a country great? I would say its citizens, you may think the government. We probably will have to agree to disagree on that. Also, you say that ousting a dictator did the world a favor, time will tell.. There is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things. Libya won its independence not because of international influence but because there own people had their hearts in the fight. Undoubtedly foreign intervention aided there revolution. So why is it different for Iraq. Perhaps the insurgents don't see it as a war against Iraq's freedom as much as they see it as a war against America. The Iraq's need to commit more than we do to a new government in order for true success.
We went into Iraq, major reason, because Saddam tried to have King George's daddy killed. Secondly, we went there for the oil. Thirdly, we went there with the delusion that we could bring a degree of stability to the region.
The USA is all about STABILITY!
We built a BILLION dollar EMBASSY in Iraq and I do not think we are just going to leave it there unprotected!
Finally, could someone please tell me the name of just ONE DICTATOR that the USA did not put in power and keep in power, all under the guise of STABILITY?
Tyrants have risen and fallen throughout the centuries. America had nothing to do with most of it. The only thing that came out of Irag was an increase in our national debt. We paid dearly for their freedom and they don't appreciate us any more for it. In time, Saddam Hussein would have fallen by the hands of his own people. In the meantime, he wasn't a threat to us. But, is sure cost a lot of money go get him out of there and stabilize the damage we caused. I say it's time for the US to return to an isolationist position until we can get out own act together.
There are dictators in all sorts of countries not just in the Middle East. It's not up to the US to get rid of all the dictators. It's up to the people in those countries to get rid of their dictators if that's what the choose to do.
The end result may well be as Fareed says; however, the fact remains that Bush/Cheney foolishly decided to take out Iran's #1 enemy. Blame Bush, not Obama.
Great point. Clinton and Pappa Bush would have thought of the consequences before taking action. I'm surprised that Dubbya didn't get(or follow) that advice from his daddy. But the fact that there was plan for handling the aftermath of the Iraq war proves that thinking of consequences had NO PART in Dubbya's decision-making process. What a doofus. Over 4000 US soldiers killed and over 700 billion dollars wasted. It's too breathtaking for the public to grasp yet.
I agree with Fareed. Obama wants people to like him so he is making a bad decision. This seems more fueled by a desire to win an election than careful thought.
"Obama wants people to like him so he is making a bad decision."
He is making the decision because our soldiers there would be prosecuted in Iraqi courts any time an Iraqi accused them of a crime. This immunity is something our soldiers get in all countries. It is SOP. Therefore, it is not a bad decision.
Yes the same result we will have will be the same had we pulled out 2 years ago, but if Fareed is correct about Iran then Iran is that much closer to Israel in that Iraq borders Israel. If Iran has easy pass through Iraqi territory then there is no end to the espionage and mischief they can generate. Methinks the real reason we warred on Iraq was because Israel wanted our military on Iran's border. Before we deposed Saddam Israel couldn't even fly over Iraqi airspace to reach Iran. If the tail wagged the dog then Isreael is in worse shape for it.
Actually, Israel is bordered by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Nevertheless, Iran brings trouble and mischief to isreal via Lebanon and Syria.
Right on. I usually agree with Fahreed too, but he is way way off... his approach leaves us NO way out, and requires us to stay there with guns drawn. Now is the time to influence the Iraqis with promises of resources if they play nicely; hell, we can always go back again, but we HAVE to give them the chance to do the right thing... They will reject Iran's influence if it is in their interest, and only if it is in their interest. We should now be giving them good reasons to do so, not merely stand guard...
We can always go back in? Remember when we went to war against Iraq under President George H W Bush in the early 1990s to get Iraq out of Kuwait-that was the first time. We didn't finish the job. The current war with Iraq started by George W. Bush is the 2nd time. We need to stop going to war & not finishing the job-that's a waste of time, money & lives. As my father use to say if you're going to do something don't do a half ass job, do it correctly or don't do it at all.
minority sunnies (saddam's party) were ruling the shiite majority in iraq and fighting off the iranian shiite. It was a good balance with the fact that saddam was ready to give everything to us. Now Bush destroyed the balance and clearly it is a shiite's win. Bad foreign policy..
Agreed, this article is surprisingly neocon hawkish, seeing the situation in manicheaen terms, as if a loss for the US somehow inevitably a win for Iran.... Why does it have to be a loss for the US? Is the only type of influence possible raw hard power? ??? It wouldn't matter if Iran gains or not. An SOFA akin to 1964 was simply intolerable from an iraqi nationalist perspective.... Therein is the Iran echo, but the lesson isn't per se unique to Iran or somehow a harbinger of Iranian control.
John, I agree with you 100%, but I would like to go a step further and state that we were in Iraq and should have never been there. That whole war was a way for the Bush family to save face, we should have went directly to Afghanistan and went full force after al Queda, knocked their sorry butts into the dirt and brought our troops home.
Having spent 26 years in the Marines and 13 months in Iraq, I cannot do anything but support the President. You do not commit or leave troops in a country where they are not protected by US law. Think of it, a Marine makes a mistake and then hauled before the Iraqi courts or the UN; please, politician's (an TV commentator's) need to stand in the shoes of the guy or gal you're sending into harm's way. Thank you Mr. President for making the right decision.
Exactly, Dave. If the Iraqis do not trust the US to prosecute US soldiers who commit crimes, then how can they trust us to even be there? Our soldiers should not be put in a position where the hosting country does not trust them. If this happens, then it turns into a powderkeg waiting to be detonated and everybody loses in the long run.
The "Middle East Cold War" has been brewing for some time and is in full swing right now. What Zakaria is pointing out is that while we "won" the conventional war, we ended up losing the much more important strategic "Cold War" over influence in the Middle East. We lost to Iran. How that is a good thing that should be celebrated is beyond me. 10 years of lost blood and treasure for zero ROI (return on investment) is an epic failure that will have negative consequences for the US for decades to come. With all that we invested over the years only to end up empty handed is a national tragedy. Obama's timing for the announcement is a pathetic attempt to obscure the harsh reality of two adminstration's mind blowing incompetence to execute a sound strategy to protect American interests in the Middle East.
Thank you
The US should never have made the "investment" in Iraq's liberation to begin with. It was a poor strategy that was doomed to failure. I'm just glad that the president is smart enough to cut the losses and leave. The money was lost before Obama took office; he's still cleaning up the mess.
True, but that's because Americans don't have patience & we go to war not willing to stay the course until we win. The Iraqis & the Afghans know this from studying our history. Remember that's what happened in Vietnam, the No. Vietnamese knew we didn't have the staying power & that they could wait us out which is what they did. Sure enough we lost patience & left.
His point is that the suddent troop witdrawl is a catalyst for future conflict with Iran, whether by us or by other nations at odds with Iran. Iraq is the buffer between Iran and the rest of the oil rich, militarily weak Arabian Peninsula. The west side of the Persian Gulf and the East side of the Persian Gulf are not friends, soon they will basically share borders.
Agreed. What is Zakaria been smokin on?
Short of staying for a hundred years, Iraq could not be changed. Let the Iraqis learn to live together or let them have the civil war that too many want. It is definitely time for the US troops to stop being in the middle. Who knows; maybe the Iraqis will have had enough death and destruction during the last 30 years and will learn to accept their differences and live in peace. Only time will tell.
I'm a native New Yorker, and lived through the attacks on 9/11. I was stranded at midtown that morning, and walked home through Central Park, surrounded by people with ash on their suits and in their hair. My first thought was that whoever did this is asking for their way of life to end. Attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan made sense. The Bush war in Iraq made none. I feel badly that the current administration needs to pay for the hubris and idiocy of its predecessors; but abandoning an occupied territory before it's ready to assume responsibility for itself makes no sense.
By going into Iraq in the frist place Bush was doing the bidding of Iran. No one benefitted more than Iran by our foolish blunder. They should build a statue to Bush in Tehran!
Zakaria is just making press. if the order was maintain a large number of troopers, he'd say, oops, that's not a good thing to do. Fareed should get a real jjob, like flipping hamburgers or pizzas.
Well, if destruction of Iraq means Iran will gain influence, the decision to invade Iraq and destroy Saddam Hussein regime must count as colossal strategic blunder–unless we intended to stay forever. Or is that what George Bush Jr. was intending to do?
I wonder how long it will be before we hear from the right-wing extremist controlled Republicans who will scream that we are leaving Iraq before the Bushy and Dicky idiotic "building" of a democracy there? Of course the whole idea of a democracy was only heard from Bush after we couldn't find WMD. It was nothing more that a Bushy face-saving idea.
Finally! The war by proxy is over. The proxy is broke.
When none can make sense of the reason for going in, there must be something wrong. How can the leaders of the world's most powerful nation collectively believed in the words of a handful of taxi drivers? Is it really for oil? In that case, I would support it. But you look at the gas price today and tell me.
The president has my vote. He is doing the right thing for the USA. If you are an American, put America first, trusty friends second, scheming "friends" under the bus.
Completely agree. We should not have been there in the first place. It is about time we put an end to this charade. And stop raising Iran as the bogeyman. Iran is absolutely nothing; we can dessimate them in a day if Iran even thinks of harming us. We have been in this war for the benefit of the defence industry (especially the like of Halliburtin) who has milked the tax payer for billions. Let stop wasting anymore tax payer money.
we never should have gone in in the first place. What did we get out of this war? its always easy to invade and destroy but look at the effects of rebuilding?
There are two significant inaccuracies in your post Mr. Zakaria: 1) Maliki spent most of his years in exile in Syria and does not speak Farsi. 2) Talabani never lived in Iran and does not speak Farsi. Masoud Barzani and his father Mustafa both spoke Farsi fluently and lived in Iran. Maliki is part of the Dawa party, as you know, which disagreed with the Iranian regime on the issue of "wilayat al-faqih;" essentially, the authority for religious leaders to take government positions as they do in Iran. The Iraqi school of Shiaism differs fundamentally on that point, in that religious leaders such as Sistani are not part of government. In light of the Dawa party split with the Iranian theocracy, Maliki and the Dawa party membership were not welcome in Iran. Maliki stayed in Iran for a short time initially, but departed in disgust after his wife received sub-optimal care in an Iranian hospital.
The Iraqi people made the right choice several years ago to insist that American troops withdraw by a certain date. And they have made the right choice now when they say they will enforce that agreement.
America never "liberated" Iraq. It illegally invaded Iraq and destroyed the Iraqi peoples country..... all under the false pretence of looking for "Weapons of mass destruction" and the Iraqi people have never forgiven them for that.
It is positively evil what America has done to the Iraqi people and I am gad to see Iraq stand proud and kick them out.
God is great. Congratulations to all the people of Iraq.
Agree. Congratulations to the people of Iraq for surviving this illegal invasion by American forces under Bush. Note that we citizens want a democracy, but our government has no interest in nurturing democracy in other countries or this one.
Sir,
You are seriously wrong. I worked in Iraq from `03 to `07 and let me tell you they were happy to see saddam but they will never give us any credit for doing it for them. On the other hand, they felt "invaded" and will be just as happy to see us go. Saddam had to go but Shrub and the neo-cons failure was to not have a plan for the "peace". They've turned their southern oil concessions over to the chineese and the russians so it's time for the US to put them in our rear view mirror.
having walked the streets of southern bagdad two tours i can say from experiance that you have no idea of what you are talking about. by the average iraqi we were welcomed in there homes and were thanked for our service.
the second tour they were just tired of the daily killings by the insurgents and wanted it to just end. poorly thought out from the start, yes Appreciated more than you will ever realize
Oh,please. I remember Hillary saying Hussein had to go....WMDs or not....pointing out that Hussein was gassing his own people. The troops will be coming home.....for a short time anyway.Then Obama will have them re-assigned to Afghanistan,Pakistan,Syria,Uganda and eventually Iran.
Sanctions are not stopping Iran from going ahead and developing the bomb....and they just laugh at Obama when he repeatedly says we won't let them build the bomb. So,the BIG QUESTION is what General Obama is going to do to stop them?
If Iran does develop a nuclear bomb, it will discover what Pakistan did. Pakistan spent billions on developing a nuclear bomb only to have India have one a few months later. If Pakistan uses a nuclear bomb on India, then India in turn will use one of them. Millions will die and no one will "win" the war. If Iran develops a nuclear bomb, then Israel and perhaps Saudi Arabia will "develop" one within a few days or months.
Would Iran be willing to actually use a nuclear bomb? I guess they maybe crazy enough but they will have to be willing to have millions of Iranians killed. That is the deal with nuclear weapons, a country can be the first to use them but they cannot prevent a nuclear counterattack. The US accepted defeat in Vietnam rather than use them to attack North Vietnam.
Wrong! The iraqis and iranians hate each other. Remember the original Gulf War between them that lasted years and killed millions. The iranian influence will be limited to the heavily shia south. The sunnis control the middle and the kurds the north. Perhaps iraq will fragment into three parts or become a balkanized country but who cares if either of those happens? The days of iraq causing problems in the middle east are long over.
Maybe so, maybe no. The best unifier is an equally hated invader. Aren't we proud if we have positioned ourselves to unify the middle east by being uniformly hated enough for them to give up their historical dislike of each other?
Iraqis were not against Iran, it was the dictator (saddam hussein) in iraq who was against iran. Both Iran and Iraq have same majority islamic sect and I am sure they would get together now that it is democratic
I disagree. Ever since we invaded Iraq, Iran has been waiting for us to leave. It wouldn't change if the withdraw was done this year or in 10 years, they would still be waiting. I think the actions of 2006 forced this hand, as it was the wikileaks reveal of the killing of civilians that lead to the lack of a immunity agreement for our troops.
Would you want Chinese troops stationed in the U.S. to "stabilize" our government so we can pay their debt? Would you want them to have immunity to our laws? Get real people.
We didn't belong there in the first place! Who the hell cares which nation steps in to fill in any sort of vacuum?
The only disappointment for the US, beyond being there at all, is that it took this long to get out. Enough of nation building and sprinking a bazillion bases all over the Earth. Bring the troops home from Iraq, and from Afghanistan, and most other places the in the world.
How does being over there create any American jobs, apart for some mercenaries (not "contractors", mercenaries – killers for hire)?
The Arab Spring doesn't require an American hand to turn the calendar from spring to summer to fall. And we need to fix the problems in our own backyard.
These are all issues for our own American Spring. Go Occupy Wall Street!
Sorry, I can't participate in the Occupy movement. Unlike the participants, I have bills to pay and a job to keep.
well, Mr.Zakaria. I do agree with most of what you were saying except the fact that to have an impact you should have a military presence in a country, USA had huge force in the gulf region more than the force of any other country there, plus Iraqis want USA to engage in a diplomatic way to help them rebuilding their country, but no people will accept to continue to be occupied ! I guess there are hundredes of ways of engaging with the Iraqi government and by the way , the era of maintaing good relationship with one leader will secure the interests is now over in many parts of the Aarab world so we need to find other ways, that's what a free people and free countries will be, won't they ?
That would be the way of democracy. Our Oligarchy wants to rule the world and make all slaves.
Why is democracy morally superior, Rule of the many vs. rule of the few? Why does the number of rulers make a political system just? If this is not your meaning of democracy, please tell me what is?
I disagree with you. This desire of the U.S. military to put in endless numbers of permanent military bases in every country is bankrupting this country. We had no reason to go into this country, but if they align themselves with our enemies, who can we blame but Bush's imperialistic pretensions? Imperialism has bankrupted every government that has ever existed in history. Having an influence and being powerful is helped by a strong military presence? That would mean for the U.S. to garrison the entire planet. Start turning about half of our military budget into other forms of manufacturing and return the U.S. to a more self-sustaining path.
Who really knows if it is good or bad. Nice to be out of there. Let Iran, Iraq and the Paki's be China and India's problem. The upside was never that great for us. Let's work on alternative energy with the money we save military. If Iraq wants to act like responsible adults we have to let them do it. If there is a problem in the future we have aircraft carrier battle groups that can be there in a few days. We had 10 years to show that we could do a good thing for us and them......we pretty much failed because it is still a sandy dump with poor infrastructure. It is about education and employment. 2 things we cannot even start to lecture about since we cut education first and jobs....what jobs.......leave it to them....we can never succeed there. They are still another 50 years behind....they will always be playing catch-up.
The money spent trying to "control" world oil supplies would have put solar panels on every building in the United States. Think about it. If alternate energy technologies are so insignificant, why have oil companies been buying the patents up and suppressing the advances for the last 60 years?
Absolutely true. The US could be getting 10 to 20% of our energy from solar and wind power by now. In 2008, when the US economy will into recession, oil demand in the US dropped by 5% and the price of oil dropped by 50%. Imagine, if we could drop our oil consumption by 5% a year. The price of oil would drop like a rock and all of that money going to the Middle East would be staying home. All of the Middle East oil producers would have to cut their budget for funding terrorists around the world. What does Iran and Saudi Arabia have besides oil? Neither country can feed their own people without importing huge amounts of food. The best way to fight terrorist is to stop sending money to the Middle East.
So, basically, we just spent over a trillion dollars giving Iraq to Iran as a present. Does that sum things up? ::shrug:: Looks like this whole thing was a bad joke from the very beginning.
Sunni, Shiite. Persian, Arab. Pro-Americaqn, Anti-American. The bush administration had no clue what it was getting America into. Gen Shinseki told congress it would take more than the administration was committing. Powell told bush, "you break it, you buy it." WHY DIDN't ANYBODY THINK ABOUT WINNING THE PEACE AFTER THE WAR WAS WON??? Now what happens? Is Iraq going to stand on its own? Are they going to align with Iran? What happens to the tenuous balance of power in the Middle East? How will the other countries in the region react and deal with whatever happens? Its probably too pollyannaish to think any good will come of this.
Right On !
well, what Bush and probably many others didn't get is that Iraq unique geaographical, historical and demographic position made it much harmful than useful to have enemity with a country like Iran,...this is simply not in the best interest of Iraq, this country has to hold the stick from the middle, it is surrounded by Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia all have interests in this country plus all the oild needing counties in the world...all the Arab gulf countries has trmendous economic ties with Iran, in Dubai the number one investor after the USA is Iran and no one of these countries chose or went into war with Iran, we all know it is not in the best interest of the region. from my knowledge about politics I can tell you this Iraq won't be an absolute ally for the USA nor it will be an absolute ally to Iran, they have to make their own way....look at Turkey ..tofay the foreign minister of Turkey doubted the evidences of USA against Iran , Turkey is part of the NATO and big ally for the USA, yet they choose different approach to Iran...so it is not as simlpe and straight as Mr. Zakaria think in his article.
The Iraqis can have Iraq. We don't need it. We never did need it. We don't have the resources, or any moral mandate to hold onto it. The only disappointment of Iraq is the fact that we invaded it for no reason in the first place and by doing so sacrificed many lives, wasted record amounts of money, and ruined the U.S. reputation.
You cannot claim victory from a non-existent objective (ie: no WMDs). Iraq was not a threat before this war, it will not be a threat to anybody for the foreseeable future. In fact, it will probably be a cash cow for multinational corporations to deliver aid, rebuild, re-arm, and produce oil.
Ditto.
oh....and Iran will sort out their own mess in the next 10 years. The people will not stand for these mullahas ruining their lives much longer.....time will tell shortly. There will be a time again when Iranians will be proud to be Iranian. Patience is a virtue
Ron Paul was right. We really have no business being all over the world. I don't care what happens to S. Korea. As far as I am concerned, they are taking our industries. Germany doesn't need us to be there any more. And we don't need to police places like Bosnia. We have our own problems on OUR border.
Congress is trading our industries for the right to have our military in S. Korea. The Oligarchy has the nonsensical idea of turning OneWorld into a slave labor camp and our designated glory spot in this criminal activity is to give them our children as their blood sacrifice to the military gods. Just sayin.
Please Donotworry, proof would be nice to have to supported your statements.
Hoodnick – Just look at what happened during the Iraq war. Do you really see some benefit to most Americans? Nearly 5000 Americans killed, nearly 35000 wounded, untold thousands suffering from PTSD. The war cost trillions of dollars that were borrowed. I have no idea how Iraq will turn out but it will depend upon the people in Iraq. Hopefully they will be so sick of war and death that they will learn to live together. If Iran wants to puts their troops in Iraq, I am sure that they will find that the troops will not be welcomed. Ron Paul is right that the US military empire must be ended.
I respect your knowledge Mr. Zakaria, but I also disagree. The American public was deceived and forced into this war in the first place. The only result from staying there indefinitely would be MORE blood and treasure. If the gettin's good, get out. There is no longer a military mission in Iraq.
There was never a legitimate military mission in Iraq.
got to love people like you, when you had the chat with bush and all the others behind closed doors did you advise them not to do it without first looking at the reasoning behind it. please share your intell with us o smart one. humm
when obama saw what he was really up aginst did you tell him to pull our troops out as fast as he could. what!! you wernt there, you mean it is your opinion based of no facts other than what you have been told by someone else.
shut the hell up
@Dave
WERE YOU there Dave? Would you mind sharing this secret knowledge that apparently only you have? It seems silly to fly off the handle at someone for sharing their opinion and making assertions without facts to back them up.
in time the Sunni's will be massacered just as Saddam did the Kurds and Shiites. If Obama cares anything for his legacy( lets forget for a moment the impact it will have on the administration of that time) he'll need to come up with a secondary option for a presence in Iraq. Maybe by empowering the Kurds in the North to establish there own country and by that way having a lasting presence loyal to the US...anythings better than the ayatollahs gaining more oil fields with which to hold as a sword over everyones head..Just a thought!!!!
Nonsense. The expense of this "oil mania" has been astronomical. Enough to coat every building in this country will solar panels. Wind farms in every likely location, and endless research for better technologies. Just sayin.
Somebody better arm the chit out of the Sunni's when we leave because the Shias are gonna butcher their asses after we are gone. Anyone think Iran won't egg this on?
I was just thinking the same..
This country like the others ie Libya Eqypt Iran will just have dictators that murder the people that are different.. In the US we sue them until they are bankrupt..
I too usually agree with Fareed, but I'm with John on this. I found this war to be baseless and senseless from the day Bush was trying to sell it at the UN before the invasion. If we'd have waited 8 years, the Iraqi people would've likely done to Saddam what the Libyans did to Gaddafi, taken their country back. This war was a blunder, and I hate to think of all the lives and suffering that went into this foul endeavor.
DUH...... That is why we spend all that money and time keeping Saddam in power. Who didn't realize this would happen if Saddam wasn't in charge?
Clearly the pro-Iranian elements within the government there did not want U.S. troops to remain. I do see this as a victory for Iran. I also see this as being particularly troubling for the Saudis. I do not think they will take kindly to growing Shiite, and in particular Iranian influence there. I would predict that they will very actively seek to aid and bolster the Sunni population within Iraq. If persecution of Sunni's ensues, I would expect the situation to potentially devolve into a civil war with Sunni nations arming the Iraqi Sunnis against the majority Shiites which would be armed by Iran.
You can always find excuses to sustain wars indefinitely, but sometimes enough is enough. We can't afford to keep troops in Iraq. Iran has enough of its own problems to sort out and its influence will largely be more economic as a neighbor to Iraq than these imagined hostile intents. The US had no real business in Iraq to begin with and may have only made the situation worse in the long run by giving terrorists another safe haven and Iran a new friend.
you can go back in history 5,000 years and right up to the iraq , afghanistan war, invadeing army,s took over the country and ran them as thier own vasal states, which they dictated law and order , which provided some rule of law and authority, go back to george bush senior and every since , have you ever heard of a military invasion where the news and human rights people ran a head of the tanks and army, these wars were a terrible waste of american lives and money, they should have removed saddam and chased the terrorists out , but replaced saddams with a elected presidentof the party in power, all american wars are very badly administerated, guarrantee you the same will happen in afghanistan , the americans after wasteing all those lives and money will get thier a$$ kicked ,
Thanks Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. You said you went in because of the WMD and Saddams ties to Al Queda. You lied and fabricated the evidence. You demanded the UN vote on the war and when it didn't go your way you went in anyway. There were no WMD. No ties to Al Queda. Only oil and military spending for Haliburton and promises of oil contracts.
Now we spent $1,000,000,000.00+, killed 100,000+, lost over 5000 of our own, we lost out on the oil and Iran is assuming control now. Thanks again Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the OOP for re-electing them and allowing them to destroy our economy before leaving so you all can blame it on Obama.
The Americans lost billions of dollars on the invasion of Iraq! It's past time to end this charade! I'm glad to see it finally come to an end! Who gives a damn what happens in the Middle East? It's been proven that they will never get along anyways!
Hey Farid,
I know u are originally from Iran and want our man and women in uniform to shed their blood destroying teh regime in Iran... But sorry.... teh Iraq war was based on lies to begin witrh and teh fact that Iran is evil is an Israeli propaganda that is not worth for us Americans to shed our blood for them... FIGHT UR OWN WARS, NO AMERICAN BLOOD FOR MIDDLE EAST!!! WAKE UP FARID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keith:
A) It is polite to spell the gentleman's name correctly, even if you disagree with him.
B) Mr. Zakaria is from India, not Iran.
And, had you read the article, you would note that he is lamenting the misconceptions that precipitated our start of the war, not advocating that we should continue to fight in Iraq.
Hey Fareed, feel free to suit up and fight in Iraq. In the meantime our kids are coming home.
So then when do we leave? We can't stay forever. There will always be a good reason to stay. Iran is always going to be medling, so at some point you have to say enough is enough we are outta here
What if we spent trillions on alternate energy instead of invading countries with oil? It would drive the price of gasoline down to giveaway prices. No blood sacrifice to the military-industrial complex necessary. If alternate energy is so useless, why do oil companies spend billions buying up the patents and repressing the technology? Just sayin.
Very true. Every dollar sent to the Middle East is another dollar that the terrorist might get. Make no mistake, the terrorist are financed using our money. Saudi Arabia set ups these Islam schools all over the world and they teach hatred to Americans. Most of the 9/11 terrorist came from Saudi Arabia.
in the end ... the story remains always the same ... we the taxpayers foot the bill.
I think the pull out shows that we live up to our word. They did not invite us to stay, and we left. We have the capability of dealing with Iran directly if need be. If it turns out that it was true Iran was behind the plot to have the Saudi rep killed here in the US, if they continue to flaunt their noses at the UN Atomic Energy Commision, if they continue to brutalize their own people in the streets like they did after the last elections, then perhaps NATO air power will be "requested". My point is simple, we don't need to confront Iran thru Iraq if that is your concern.
This seems a natural course. The Iranian population is approximately 98% Shia and the Iraq population approximately 65% Shia. They really don't hate their brothers. What will remain interesting to see is if the religious leaders begin to control the government. Will they move to the Ayatollah (A high-ranking Shiite religious authority regarded as worthy of imitation in matters of religious law and interpretation). This will determine the amount of violence and terror used in the name of God.
Do you not think that the Iraqi people can think for themselves? Do they not have a will? Do they not have more will than is necessary to fight their own despots, and see through the kind of Nationalistic call that leads peoples down the path of dictatorship?
"it tells us that there was a dramatic misconception of Iraq from the start. We never really understood the country we were getting involved in. We never understood the exiles who we empowered." After Vietnam you think we woud have learned something. Mr. Santayana's admonition seems never to be learned.
Everybody wants to talk about what we're losing in Iraq when they should be talking about how stupid we were to get into it. That's the lesson of this debacle. We were screwed from the start. We lost the war the minute we declared war.
There was never any other outcome possible. Bush and Cheney set up Saddam as the personal boogie man of the U.S., and enough gullible people believed their lies. Now, instead of saying how stupid they were, the news folks want to blame the current president for taking the only reasonable course left: getting out. Even Obama is very late in coming to this conclusion. The pullout should have started in January of 2009, and it should have included Afghanistan.
In reality, neither war should have happened, but the news media will not admit their complicity in the deaths of all those killed in the Middle East, or the economic havoc the wars have wrought.
Obama has been President for how long now? He is making the decensions now and this will be one of his greatest mistakes, which he has had many this past year. He is giving it to Iran, which that was his plan to start with about Iraq. He just couldn't say it out loud.
Obama is a failure.
I'll gladly take lots more of this type of "failure".
Obama is the BEST PRESIDENT the US has had EVER !!
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Having the U.S. leave Iraq is NOT a victory for Iran. Despite their past war during the Hussein era, it would be highly unlikely for Iran to actually invade Iraq. They might push their weight around, but they're doing that right now already. An Iranian invasion into Iraq would give the final justification for the West to invade a nuclear Iran with all available munitions. Iran cannot stand up to the full might of the West and they know it.
The fact is that US has no money to keep up the meddling in the world affairs. We are borrowing to fight wars and borrowing give billions in aid to the nations like Israel. It's like walking around with a gun and threatening everybody with NO BULLETS in the gun. The world is laughing. Stop meddling and pay attention at home to get our fiscal house in order by reviving the economy and helping Americans instead of rest of the world.
So what is your alternative, Mr Zacharia? Leave a larger force without a SOFA and watch American service men and women face "justice" in Iraqi courts? The government of Iraq has told us that we are not wanted. Time to leave.
The President made a good decision. We have been in Iraq for about 10 years. We never should have invaded Iraq, but when we did, we gave the Iraqi people a rare opportunity to achieve a democratic government. America has shed enough blood and spent enough of our wealth on Iraq and it is time to leave. It now is up to Iraqis to fight for their future. We can not hold their hand forever. I wish them well.
Mr Zakaria, as some-one from the region, like you, but who continues to travel there, I agree. Ronald Reagan supported Saddam as a bulwark against the Khomeini. George Herbert Walker stopped short of Baghdad, unwilling to leave the field open to Iran. George "dubba" W, knowing little about Iraq, let alone foreign policy, set the stage for an Iranian takeover. The Iranians are already there, al-be-it covertly but, overtly, a combined Iraq-Iran is a mighty power and woe be to the House of Al Saud. The Shiites have long sworn to return Mecca "to the fold". Soon they will have their chance. I sincerely hope that Netanyahu realises the change in the equation that this, the execution of Ghadaffi, and the Arab spring has wrought. It has sharply increased the risk to Israel..
Without economic strength we have no strength to mess around as a bully and meddle in affairs of other nations. We are 15 trillions dollars in debt. In real world it means bankrupt. That is down right stupid spending money to mess around the world with borrowed money from China.
All those "Americans" who are whining about us leaving Iraq because Israel will suffer need to pack up their families and move back to their real country. Then they can fight their own battles. They are obviously only patriots to Israel.
There are enough of you in the USA to win your wars and leave American dollars in America.
Go Home!
for the 1st time sense the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Iranians will soon be able to drive their tanks straight to Isreal with nothing but friendlies along the way. Way to go America!!! We suck at chess.
The Syrians would love their help sooner than later.
LEt them drive the tanks to israel. who cares any more about the middle east?
Fareed is a suni and is bothered ny shia power in that part of the world. I can understand his motives. Just as a Jewish commentator would be bias toward Israel in his views despite the facts the world knows the facts.
Don't worry folks. We'll have a quarter million troops on the ground in Iran as soon as they successfully blow something up in America. It's just a matter of time and we all know it. We're not giving anything up. We're just repositioning our pieces on the board. This is not a loss for the U.S. It is a loss for Iraq and the world will soon find out why. We've all seen what a joke Pakistan is, and Syria, Yemen and others will soon fall victim to their own revolutions. The last remaining problem country now is Iran. All other necessary regime changes are either well underway or finalized. Our war against the Middle East is almost over and anyone who thinks we didn't win it by light years is fooling themselves.
I happen to agree with Zakaria. The problem that concerns me is leaving there before the Iraqis are really prepared only to have to come back and do this all over again. I realise that even if the Iraqis are better trained and prepared that there is still no guarantee that they call hold their own. However, it does give them a better chance to deal with situations. Now, all of that being said, I wish the hell we would have never been there in the first place.
A place we never should have been, spending money that should never have been spent, killing soldiers that should never have died. If you are against nation building it's time to stop voting for the same candidates over and over again. Vote Ron Paul in 2012 and end the cycle of nation building once and for all.
It is about time! We don't have the money to support this "fledging democracy" any longer. We've invested enough in this country and need to insist they stand on their own.
I'm sure there will be cries to goad us into another war with Iran and should be ignored.
Mr. Zak I always watch your programme. This time you are totally wrong. No matter the strategy, the war was ill conceived. The strategy was flawed, initial number of troops required was flawed, diplomacy was flawed, etc. But Mr Mccain still think we are winning, when will all this old men realise the world is changing!!!
As much as I like Fareed, you forget that we have spent 700 Billion dollars and shed American blood for dubious results. It is not America's responsibility to keep Iraq aflot. What about the Arab countries, Europe, Australia? Enough is enough, Fareed. Time for other nations to step up. And if Iran keeps pushing it, they will force the world to deal with them, not just the USA.
Good for Iran. The U.S. military has screwed up everything they have tried to do, along with Congress, the president, etc. Maybe the killing of women and children can now stop in Iraq. I am sure the U.S. has probably secured some oil rights. That's what all the killing and the money was about anyway.
Fareed Zakaria is a Muslim shill, and would love to see America bogged down in that rat hole part of the world he should call home.
Sure, Fareed, we can stay. We'll send you the bill. You're paying, right?
One of the reasons i voted for Obama was that he was going to end the wars. He has ended one. And is wrapping up the other. He will get my vote again for this......anybody who says it's in the US's interests to have boots on the ground in Iraq is a masochist.
Farid, Iranian influence is already there, you are good but Iranian politics are a bit more complex, Iran is a local power and Iraq is a small Arab country with half of them Shiaas..also Ahmadinejad is a patsy , try to get an interview with Ali Khamenei ...
Fareed, this proves conclusively what a low IQ you guys have. In 2003 when Bush said he wanted to invade Iraq, I wikipedia'd the country and in <5 minutes, learned that Iraq was mostly Shiite muslim, aligned with Iran, but that Saddam ruled a sort of "apartheid" style government because Saddam was a minority Sunni (the same as the rest of the muslim world outside Iraq and Iran). That's why Saddam had to rule with such an iron-fist and war with Iran, to keep his Sunni's in power, and suppress the majority of Iraqi's who were aligned with Iran. It seemed like anyone with an IQ over 80 should have figured out that removing Saddam and replacing him with anything other than another iron-fisted Sunni dictator would logically cause Iraq to partner with Iran. Duh. A 10 year old could have seen this one coming. But, back in 2003, you, Fareed, like the rest of the media and politicians, were cheering the Iraq invasion, predicting a great outcome, without even taking 5 minutes to google the country you're invading. Notable exception was, of course, Ron Paul, who like anyone with a brain saw this one coming. What's even more amazing is that now, 8 years later, you still don't get it. You think that if only we stay in Iraq longer, someone we can undo this disaster you idiots created. You still don't realize that whether we withdrew in the beginning, withdraw now, or withdraw 20 years from now, either way the result is the same: American idiots handed Iraq over to Iran on a silver platter, and now Iraq and Iran will be plotting together to punish us for our stupidity. Let's not forget either that Iran used to be a democratic, progressive, left-leaning, pro-Western government with a fairly elected Parliament. But back in the 1950's Eisenhower and the idiot Americans were afraid Iran was too liberal and would nationalize oil production, so you guys launched Operation Ajax to overthrow Iran's democratic government and put a dictator in Iran (the Shah) that would shift Iran to the right and serve U.S. interests. You sure got what you wished for. Oh and don't get me started about the U.S. providing training and weapons to Al Queda back in the day, again afraid Afghanistan would become too liberal under the Soviets. How'd that work out for us? After all this, you still haven't learned your lesson. You still think the solution is more U.S. involvement in the Middle East. And you think of yourself as an intellectual?
Paul...you said it nicely, but there is an additional issue. As Ron Paul saw what was coming, so did everybody else. The people directly involved in the decision-making (when it came to going to war) made money – including Fareed (gave him something to write about). Ron Paul spoke the truth and they ignored him just like they ignore him today. Ron Paul's ideas, when it comes to these types of issues, don't make anybody any money. That's why everybody likes this strange 9-9-9 plan of Cain's (that should have been dead already) – because sombody is going to make some serious money.
Well said. Zakaria is full of s*** on this as he has been before
We fought a war with Iraq in 1991, then invaded Iraq in 2003, and are still occupying the country. Now we are "disappointed" that so called Iraqi power brokers don't want us to stay after the end of this year. Why wait for an invitation? If it is so important then don;t leave. If the main strategic winner in all this is Iran, why did we spend all this blood and treasure? I don;t really think all this happens because our government is naive. I think wars get fought in the middle east–e.g. Iraq, and in Libya, over Oil, for the benefit of corporations. We, the citizens and taxpayers, pay the price with our aforementioned blood and treasure, but the corporations reap the profits. It really doesn;t look as if anyone in the government over the past twenty years was giving much thought to the overall geopolitical strategy.
Well it's about time we have figured out that they can pay for anything they need on their own. We can sure help them out for the right price. So when do we start getting cheap gas ?
We fought a war with Iraq in 1991, then invaded Iraq in 2003, and are still occupying the country. Now we are "disappointed" that so called Iraqi power brokers don't want us to stay after the end of this year. Why wait for an invitation? If it is so important then don;t leave. If the main strategic winner in all this is Iran, why did we spend all this blood and treasure? I don;t really think all this happens because our government is naive. I think wars get fought in the middle east–e.g. Iraq, and in Libya, over Oil, for the benefit of corporations. We, the citizens and taxpayers, pay the price with our aforementioned blood and treasure, but the corporations reap the profits. I
I never take what Mr. Zak has to say very seriously. Have you noticed how he has a diagnosis on every problem followed by a solution? He has a solution for US economy, Chinese economy, Europe's problems, mid east problems, he has solutions for every country's political problems, economical problems, social problems, scientific problems, educational problems,etc etc. He even has solutions to unified field theory. He has something to say on just about everything and anything. There is a word for such a person, a professional B-S-er. LOL. Brought to you by CNN.
Sounds like Cliff from Cheers.
Iran and Israel seem on a course toward confrontation over Iran's nuclear program....if that happens, it would be best to be far away from the region while Iran gets deflowered.
As soon as the last US Soldier leaves Iraq we will have won the war ! They have told us in effect that they do not want our "help" anymore and will "PAY" private contractors for any additional help that they feel they need and I imagine will buy whatever weapons that they need. Now is the oppertunity for us to jump in with privite contractors of all types to go in and offer to help them re-build the country and charge them big money $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I agree it is time to bring the troops home. But lets also be honest now on what will happen there. all the money we spent/wasted will be for naught. As long as that maniac cleric is in Iraq, this country will fall under the influence of Iran. Im just saying
We will never have much power in this part of the world, due to Islam. Its a falacy to pretend we ever would.
Bring our troops home and focus efforts on rebuilding America. Put the engineering, technology, health care, security, and innovation muscle to work at home for once to get our country back on track. As with any successful enterprise – vision and focus is key. Lets create a new vision of rebuilding infrastructure, innovating new technologies, and allow our men and women of the armed forces to feel the splendor and self-satisfaction of rebuilding this great nation while earning a living, gaining knowledge, loving and living with family and friends, and finally... being a part of their community! Obama is doing the right thing! Keep up the good work!
Libya was a better model for future interventions. If the people in a country want change then assist them but *they* must do the hard slog on the ground. Assist with air power, intelligence, maybe special forces, and be part of a coalition like NATO that can share the burden. Like Libya and unlike Iraq, attack military targets only and leave civilian infrastructure intact so you don't feel obliged to spend years and billions of dollars rebuilding the stuff you destroyed.
The president is finally doing what he promised in 2008 and he is like two plus years late. We need to get of Afganistan too and stop wasting young lives and 2 BILLION dollars a week. If Iraq wants the Iranians to rule/tell them what to do, is their damn business. We need to GET out NOW. Mr. Zakaira, you sincerely wrong. Do you remember Russia left Afganistan after ten wasted years of lives and resources and they end up getting grans from the U.S. to feed its hungry nation.
I have to wonder if Fareed is willing to cease his scribbling and lay down his own life for America's nebulous "strategic influence" in Iraq? No? How about your child's life? You really expect some other human being to cease living for the benefit of some political chess game? Or is it only the poor and under-educated who should have to throw their lives away? I am sickened.
The Iranians, the Syrians and Hizbullah must be extremely happy with this news. The make no secret of their happiness. If you watch Syrian TV or Al-Manar, Hizbullah TV station, you will hear them cheer up this victory almost every other day.
Looks like Fareed's auditioning for Wolf Blitzer's job as AIPAC's poster boy. People are onto Wolf, so they had to go get a browner version of him to shovel the B.S. Actually a smart move.
LMAO
These ignorant, unintelligent posts make me sick. All this blood and death that we have sacrificed is going to be left to a despotic regime that will influence Iraq. Sure, many of us can debate that the war may not have been the right thing for america, but we shouldnt back down now. Let the past be the past. Let the future do the right thing!
Everyone who wants to lay down his life so that America can maintain "influence" in Iraq should immediately arm themselves and get to the Middle East asap. At the very least you should volunteer for the Marines or Army. Fight your own war with your own blood.
Well, Truth, here is something to make you even sicker. Iran joining up with Iraq was a foregone conclusion when we toppled the Suny regieme of Saddam Hussein and replaced it with a Shiite regieme. Iran is, also, Shiite. So, it is not our withdrawal that is bringing them together. It was going after Saddam Hussein our former ally and buffer against Iran that has brought them together. Thanks alot George W.
BS. We should have "Backed down" years ago. easy for you to say this if you aren't over there
As long as we keep bases close by and well manned. Why build our give certain groups another target the other bases in the region have established and tested security measures in place. This is the perfect time to build our on the ground intellegence / operatives and let them start reverse engineering the current mind sets and dislike for America. Maybe we put some cops and military leaders school teacher media types deep, deep undercover for life.
If needed the U.S and it's allies can strike with-in minutes if a situation rose to that level
Farhud Zakaria has been nominated for Iranian Ambassador to Iraq.
Fareed. WE DON'T CARE !!
GET OUT !!
GET OUT !!
GET OUT !!
The Iranian internal powder-keg is going to blow all by itself anyway.
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Why pull out? It will be cheaper just to hop the border into Iran in a few months...
Zak,
The benefit of this war to Iran was obvious the day Bush invaded. We deposed the minority Sunnis and the majority Shias took over. Duh!
Or maybe you think after half a million dead Iraqis we should have re-installed the Baathists and a new Saddam?
Get real. This was a foregone conclusion on day one.
The Iraq war was never anything but a big miscalculation. Vice Present Cheney tried to hit a home run for the oil interests. Profits were far less than anticipated. Americans are far too ignorant of middle east history. 1000 years of camp fire stories of repelling the "crusaders". He stumble right into the imagery of the hated invader. Saddam Hussein did keep Iran at bay.
I dont know when sacrificing 5000 soldiers became a miscalculation, even if we were to hit a home run with oil. Its purely Bush's revenge to get rid of Saddam for targeting his dad. Otherwise what is the rush in getting him killed right before his re-election. He wanted it done whether he wins second time or not. Sad part is, we re-elected him even after we knew the truth.
Fareed, from my reading up on the web, I believe you were called to the White House by the Bush administration to counsel them on the their plans to remove Saddam. I believe at that time you were a supporter of this effort. So understanding the strategic implication of your views in this article, is this something you discovered along the way?
The only reasons we went in was the prospect of getting all the oil. The president probably thought if we liberated Iraq they would allow our oil companies free access to the oil. The other is that although Chaney’s money and the presidents may have been in a blind trust. They new defense stocks were going to go thru the roof which they did. Now they are out of office and they are much much wealthier then when they went in.
It was a massive lack of the understanding of the sociology of Iraq that resulted in all the years of chaos and setbacks. It is hard to believe some progress was made in spite of it all. Like raising a child it is time to let go. They must now discover for themselves what values and behaviors work and don't work. They must be free to fail or succeed and learn from it all.
After thousands of years...they'll never figure it out!
Bush's monumental US Embassy in Iraq was designed to be the headquarters for all the American oil companies buying the Iraqi oil. The largest ever embassy built on foreign soil. In fact the embassy was built in the early years after invasion. Now after 4500 American lives lost, 36000 wounded and after we rebuilt their infrastructure, we are leaving. What a bad gamble for Americans. The Iranians will never have power over the Iraqis as most think but will in fact become a warlord land of no return with each tribe killing other tribes. The middle east can never have peace until they desire it and with tribe mentality it will never come to be. We should be celebrating that the Bush war (and the Bush Reign of Ruin) is finally done and over. Let us thank President Obama.
Sick of these people referring to the lost lives as our blood and treasure, we are not a bunch of pirates. Stupid saying. We lost the lives and well being of many of our youth and lost billions of dollars on a pointless foriegn war. We also doubled the size of the Pentagon and military contractors. Next time lets just give the Cheneys their blood money and save the lives of our boys.
Who cares who gains control in that hell hole. As long as US troops are not dying in vain I could care less. Let the Iraq's and Iranians do what they have been doing for a thousand years...kill each other. Fat cat oil interest be damned-some way we'll wok it out. Billions being dumped into billionaire coffers everyday and prices at the pump still over $3 bucks for the little guys. Industry will figure it out and prosper. Business will moan and groan like always with the rich getting only richer. And YES there is a difference between industry and business....
Two conclusions from this article; 1) Butch and Chinkey were incompetent screwups; 2) Iraqis will continue to blow each other up. Agree with both, move on and do not repeat said mistakes.
Sadly, the security situation as the United States prepares to fully withdraw the military is exactly the same as it was a year ago when those bombs demolished Noof’s home. The numbers of attacks per day across the country has not changed in more than a year. Also in the last year, the government has accomplished, by most counts, nothing. More than 19 months after elections, it hasn’t even fully formed.
People who a year ago told me they were optimistic about the future of Iraq are now stunningly grim. Iraqis who are eligible for refugee status to America are still scrambling to get their applications through before the program closes. Many who vowed never to leave their homeland are exploring their options.
There is some, but not enough, faith in the Iraqi security forces. There are very real concerns that Iran is only further extending its tentacles into its neighbor. There are alarming signs that the sectarian fissures are beginning to emerge once again.
Thanks for the big thinkers like Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Richard Pearl, and George here is what we got-
a trillion dollar of tax payer money gone
thousands of our men and women dead and and 10-20 thousand injured physically and psychologically
God knows how many Iraqis dead and injured
More geopolitical influence for Iran
No basis and no solider there- so no military gain
Chinese with biggest oil contracts
That was a great plan all around!. We should give a medal or two for those who decided to get us in there!
We cannot sustain a presence in Iraq. No money. Bush deposed a man who was harmless to the US in favor of allowing the influence of Iran, a nuclear threat, to dominate. Nice going neocons. Agreed this is a disaster. It was made on the day we started this unsustainable debacle.
When campaigning for the Democratic nomination in 2008, Obama said he would have troops out of Iraq in 16 months. After Clinton suggested 18 months, with a conditions-based withdrawal, Obama was pressed on his plan and said "16 months is 16 months."
How quickly liberals forget. This warmonger, if he even meets the end-of-year plan that Bush laid out with the Iraqis, will have taken 35 months to get out.
Sorry, but that's not keeping your promise. Especially when all troops removed from Iraq have just been dumped into wars in Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.
Campaigning is different than governing.
And I'm pretty sure Obama finalized and announced his withdrawal plans around the 16 month mark – if not earlier.
So your griping is POINTLESS!
I never had much faith in anything this dork (Fareed Zakaria) has had to say!!!
Wait. Why is Iran the enemy? They didn't blow up the WTC. They detained our people, we downed their aircraft; we're event. Move on. Perhaps they don't like Israel, well, they haven't really attacked Israel, have they, other than orally? (Oral is always good, by the way. & No I'm not Iranian, I'm the next frontier.) Leave them alone. There is no free oil available anymore. Clean up USA first. Have you been to dirty NYC recently? aaaargh... buffer overflow.
Please do not forget to drop off some choppers into Tonkin ....sorry Basra bay!
Saddam forever!
I guess you are one of many of the media newscasters and political persons who have to pour "cold water" on any accomplishment President Obama makes and/or has made in his Presidency. It might be a good idea if you ALL just sit back, take a deep breath, and keep the "positive" in life! Crying "Wolf", and playing "Chicken Little" isn't going to do one thing to make the outcome different. It is about time that Iraq stood up for itself! They had to do so before George Bush pretended WMD so he could go in and take out Sadam, and then proclaim victory, when in fact it wasn't a victory at all in 2003! It is now time that they take care of their own Country!
I usually agree with Fareed, but he seems to think that we could have prevailed if we just stuck it out a little longer. This is the hawkish view on Vietnam, and it is wrong. At some point, we are no longer seen as liberators or stabilizers, but just as occupiers. We cannot force the Iraqis to accept us, and if that means that Iran gains influence, so be it. Bush made this mess through his bravado and lack of foresight, and nobody would be able to clean it up at this point.
We need to leave. What a badly planned war. No Marshall plan was used post invasion. We essentially threw the Sunnis into the cold and dissolved the Iraqi military thus creating an insurgency. Iran may have a key ally in Iraq now. No U.S. oil companies even got contracts for oil fields. We blew so much money and paid Haliiburton for shoddy work. The infrastructure is destroyed in Iraq. Women are less free now in Iraq than ever. Women were allowed to be more liberal under Saddam. Christians were protected under Saddam. Christians are murdered daily now in Iraq. Women have to cover their bodies now and face retribution if they don't. The casualties we have had and the limbless and disfigured number over 40,000.
I spent 35 months in Iraq and saw significant improvements over that time (2003-2010).
I didn't think it was critical to invade when we did, but I also believe we would have invaded within time. Saddam was increasing his air defense attacks against coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zone, he also had refused access to UN inspectors on multiple occasions, and there was obfuscation and lies coming from the Saddam regime which reinforced concern among the UN and US/UK diplomats and political leaders.
The Iraqi government made this decision easier for the President, but it is in keeping with the timeline agreed upon during the Bush adminstration, and is wise (it is politically unattainable for Iraq to agree to keep troops past 01 JAN 2012 with any type of legal immunity). This decision allows Iraqi politicians to declare that US troops have been evicted (minus the State Dept. personnel). I suspect that further discussions will happen that try to allow for training and partenership in the future.
It would be beneficial if the US had Iraq as an ally in the Middle East. We shall see how the Kurds, Sunnis, Shia and adjacent countries interact without US troops on the ground.
Fools!! Does anyone actually believe that we can simply withdraw from the middle east and stick our collective heads in the sand without consequences?? We will be back at war with one of those freak job states before long gauranteed and not because of an israeli lobby or the military industrial complex. It will be because we have turned into a nation of pansies that is unwilling to sacrifice in the short term for long term security. Our brave soldiers have paid the price and now it is time for the rest of the nation to step up and pay their share...not just the rich but ALL of us.
OMG what a stupid post! How much more are we supposed to "pay"? You are the fool. Enough is ENOUGH. get them out now!
If you feel so strongly YOU pay more for it. We are not a nation of pansies, we are tired of useless, costly wars. can you comprehend this at al?
I suggest now you sent those soldiers to china to work in their factories because they are no jobs left in the US
Sure would be nice to have the Ba'ath party back.
Thanks Paul Bremer. Thanks for the insurgency, too. Dolt...
The middle east is breaking apart having a couple thousand us troops in Iraq is not going to stop anything.
A fallacious perspective that an input will have a proportional output.
anyways none of the old equations hold anymore. Its not just Syria and Iran. Egypt in Feb. Jordan tomorrow. Sunnis vs shiites vs copts vs personal interests, its becoming no man territory over there.
Don't be so naive folks.
What's more effective than having US troops in Iraq? If the people hold their own gov't accountable and the people of Iran and Syria bring down their own governments!
The US is getting out because they see the power the ARAB SPRING is having throughout that region. Is not a coincidence that Obama makes this announcement 1 day after the death of Gadhafi in Libya.
By getting out during this time, it re-inforces the notion to the people in that region that the BAD GUYS are their own dictators and/or theocratic system.
The US will surely be working to make sure the ARAB SPRING continues and claims Syria and Iran next.
And this time, instead of Bush/GOP cowboy go-it alone approach, the US will lead NATO and the UN to topple these regimes.
So by your logic, troops in Iraq are preventing the spread of the Arab Spring. Interesting, given that the Arab spring started, spread, and has so far brought down the rulers of two nations regardless of troop levels in Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, Gadhafi was brought down WITH us military support.
The Libyan people asked for UN help to bring down Gadhafi.
The Libyan people were on the side of NATO.
That is why the Libyan mission was a success and cost much less and lasted much shorter.
Bush/GOP invaded Iraq. No credible nation supported the US in its efforts. So understand the big difference.
Oh, right, the Libyan people are on the side of NATO. Is that in any way similar to how the Iraqi government is currently on the side of the United States?
How were you thinking that we would make sure the Arab Spring spreads to Syria? From boats in the Arabian Gulf? It would be nice to have a giant forward operating base in a country under our influence right in between the two.
So you think that if the it would be a wise move by the US to launch attacks from Iraq into Syria or Iran, if somehow the ARAB SPRING grew big enough in those countries?
Do you understand how that would backfire and destroy all credibility of the ARAB SPRING movement in those countries?
Now it would be so obvious to the world that the US invaded Iraq and occupied it for the sole purpose of having military bases in that region to exert its *will* in that region.
By getting out of Iraq, it gives the US a clean slate. A higher moral ground to assist THE PEOPLE in countries like Syria and Iran remove their corrupt leaders.
Now through the mandate of the UN and NATO, the US can then get legal and proper permission to station military bases in nearby countries – including Iraq. Hence, the US will be seen as LIBERATORS and not occupiers.
Right now, everybody in that region still sees the US as occupiers of Iraq. That has to change if the US wants more credibility to assist the ARAB SPRING movement topple the governments in Syria and IRan.
You have a limited understanding of the utility of a large military footprint in the region if you think that 15000 troops are there to mount attacks in other countries or even in that country. The military and others of the US government who collaborate with them do much more than simply mount attacks on things.
No one in that region is ever going to see the US as liberators, but what they did see us as is the Alpha Male, as far as strategic messages goes, we sent the entire middle east a message that they had better stay in line, and for the most part, they have.
This reinforces the fact that we should not have been in Iraq at all. But we are, no thanks to Dubya. Iraq does not want us there.
Going to Iraq and Ousting Saddam was a good strategic move. Removing the Ba'ath Party from power and handing it over to the Iran-loyal Shiite tribes was a bad strategic move.
@Ed
How does what you say make any sense?
If taking Saddam out would have been easy and CHEAP to do, then yes, it would have been a *good* strategic move.
It didn't turn out the way did it?
So remove Saddam turned out to be a "bad" strategic move.
Imagine if Saddam was still around and the ARAB SPRING occurred as it was now spread into Iraq? That would have been a better time to take Saddam out if it was really in the best interest of the US.
Do you know anything about the last 8 years of conflict in Iraq. There was little violence directed at the coalition following the march up. The insurgency began when Paul Bremer decided to de Ba'athify Iraq. High level former Ba'ath officials have clearly stated that if all we wanted was Sadaam, they would have given him to us. All we had to do was oust Saddam, confirm the dismantlement of the WMD program, put a new Ba'ath Party official in party, establish a few major permanent firm bases in the hinterlands of Iraq, write a status of forces agreement, and let the Iraqis go on about their business, instead, we decided to pick a 6 year food fight with the Ba'ath Party, which snowballed into a fight with Al Qaeda in the Sunni controlled regions and Iranian proxy militias in the Shiite controlled regions. And now we have even given up the strategic position that we earned the hard way. Ousting Saddam was good, but we went too far. And don't think for one second that Sadaam would allow the Shiites to rise against him, aside from Baghdad, the country is geographically divided along sectarian lines with close to 40% in his favor and the other 60% with no access to the means to make war.
It's like making a nice risotto. Just the right amount of salt makes for a good taste. Too much salt makes it nasty. Ousting Sadaam was just the right amount of salt, removing the Ba'ath Party made it taste nasty.
@Ed
If taking out Saddam was the only goal of the US, then yes, the Iraq war was a success. Clearly, there were a ton of other consequences that Bush had not anticipated.
So the point you made is IRREVELANT and POINTLESS. The Iraq War turned out to be one big bad move.
I agree that the war in Iraq OVER ALL turned out to be a bad move, now punctuated by the failure to maintain and influential military presence in the country. My point is that there was a period after the ousting of Saddam and before the initiation of the insurgency where it could have gone completely differently. We made significant strategic progress by ousting Hussein. We have thrown most of it away since then.
But try this one on for size. The message of the invasion of Iraq and the removal of its dictator as a significant causal factor in the inception and sustainment of Arab Spring.
This comment is more directed at Marley than Ed.
You are assuming in your response to Ed that the Arab Spring we've been witness to this past year was not positively corrolated with your country's involvement in Iraq. I for one do not think the Arab Spring would have come to pass if the US had not deposed Hussein and helped found a democratic state. Chin up, US. It may not look the way you might have planned, but neither does Europe...that doesn't mean you toss in the towel.
The Middle East is having a meltdown on every dimension.
could all of you imagine if fareed was president
omg
Gee, Zak... you've become an imperialist.
If Iraq is going to become an ally of Iran, then it will happen regardless of our soldiers on their soil. All we do is put our soldiers in harms way if we put them in the position where they do not have immunity from Iraqi prosecution and the Iraqi government becomes more and more pro Iran.
The President is right; we need to step back and let whatever will happen happen. If they want our help and training in the future, they will need to play by our rules.
Its good that we're out. We can try a new strategy that has a better chance of working...
The Iraqi's have invited the U.S. out of their country. They didn't present any threat to us before the war, and they don't present any threat to us after we leave. Let's stop trying to impose our "influence" on countries that don't want us there in the first place, and work on our own problems.
zakaria has his own agenda to propagate he wants India lifted up and the USA to fall back thats what happens when u give U.S. jobs to a big country with a larger population!!!
I am from that region and traveled with education to the highest degree of science. It was very naive from bush and his company not to ask any one who growup in that region before taking any step to invade Iraq and the answer will be NOOO. Over their they have expression says "me and my brother will fight against cousin but me and my cousin will be fighting against the stranger", did you get it. Sadam was the only person knows how to deal with the Iranians and their cousin whether they are sona or shea, did you get it??????? Daaaaaa
Fareed, give me a break. Almost 10 years! For false reasons! How many lives? Money? I am relieved!
I like Zakaria, he asks questions that should be asked. But in this opinion piece he offers no supporting evidence that the U.S. pulling out of Iraq now is bad for American interests. He may be right, but maybe he's like the parent who has trouble letting his child go out on his own, he fears the worst, but without any real evidence to suspect the worst. We cannot prop up the Iraqi government forever. At some point they need to be on their own, sink or swim.
We have just seen a multi-part series on CNN about bullying–and a lot of talk about power. I see President Obama's decision as a very strong one–the bullies will no longer hold America hostage with their ephemeral promises of cooperation-time to put up or shut up. The pact was made to pull American troops out of the military stage but leave a contingent for diplomatic and social development. The Iraquis have held American feet to the fire with their proclaimed need for support but have not held up their end of the bargain to any great length. When you get "bullied" like this you either cave and continue to take it or you remove the power from the bully. President Obama took the step he needed to take. And just so you don't think I'm a die-hard libertarian leftist wing-nut, I'm not even American.
What a great analogy. Just close enough to convince all of the clueless readers that the two are basically the same and not close enough to even remotely make sense in the context of reality.
I have read so much prior to this I am disappointed in americans (actually, because of what I read I believe most come from the young , some who think they are intelectually superior, I have to say "merda". I tIhink none of you has ever had a weapon pointed at you head.
I want no one to die for any reason, or to be dominated by a demogog, republican or democrate. There is nothing in the quoran, torra or biblel that worries me. It is the ignorance I read in the vast majority of these comments that scares me. Start getting some practlcal experiance and know what you are talking about before you pontifcate.
It is fine to criticise others for 'pontificating', but what exactly is your position? This article is about Obama making the decision to pull US soldiers from Iraqi soil. Therefore, do you agree or disagree? What exactly have people making comments on this article said that you take objection with? Until you make a point, how can anybody debate with you?
I reswpect Zakaria a lot regarding his insight on the Middle East. Even before we went in, what is the plan? This was well thought of by evil minded Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. They definitely knew that they could easily drag the war till the end of their term and then live the mess to the next administration. It is unfortunate that it happens to be a
Democrats. Well, we have just a two party (pathetic) system in this country. What are the democrats to do? Now it is show time (election). So, they try to bring the soldiers back (after about 4,600 have died). It gives all of us a fall sense of security that we are safer because we are fighting a war in Iraq. Afghanistan is another story. If we were uncomfortable with the Iranians what was the purpose of getting rid of Saddam? If we have any guts we should attack Iran, which makes more sense now. There are certain things US will not do. We could not even get rid of Muqtadar Sadr the cleric. We had him surrounded, and yet we could not touch him. Keep a watch on Iraq, if Iranians hurt our interests, bomb them. What are we waiting to accomplish? No Iraqi child left behind!!! We could not do it here in our own country! Do it with air strikes!!!
I never thought I would say this, but Zakaria is right on with this one. We went in to this one with a crappy plan. We were lucky at first and found ourself with a nice little slice of ground in the heart of the middle east, then we screwed it up by throwing out the baby with the bath water (throwing out the Ba'ath Party with Sadaam). We finally fixed that after seven more years of war, but we ended up with Iranian loyalists in power, and now we are totally removing our best chance to keep things under control. Fail.
Regardless, it is wrong to put more US soldiers in harms way in a country that does not appreciate us being there. To merely keep them there, regardless of the will of the hosting country, because of the threat of their neighbor (Iran), is not a good decision, in my opinion. While it is true that we have lost few lives there lately, that could change very soon if the Iraq government fully turns against us.
That depends on your definition of "wrong." Geopolitics and military conflict is not about playing fair and being nice. If that's your definition of "wrong" then I suggest you find a subject matter that is less squeamish to you. What is "right" to the US is what is BEST for the US, regardless of how it makes you or the Iraqis or anyone else FEEL.
By "wrong", I mean bad for American policy. It makes no sense to keep military bases in countries that are not a direct threat to the US and do not want us there. It is wrong for the US, it is wrong for Iraq, it is wrong for our soldiers, all around it is wrong. This is what I mean.
Tell me why we should keep troops in a free country that does not want them there? Tell me what is "right" about that.
Dear Fareed. This is not the time to wax conservative. Get all our men and women soldiers home from the middle east for God's sake right NOW.
iran has influence in iraq? well, thank w. bush for that. he rebuilt iraq.
This is the most insipid piece of drivel I have read in quite awhile. Not a thing mew or original, just an obvious viewpoint...yours.
You might have done better by mentioning the previous regime, with it's one celled creature/decider and the other germ,
who attacked, invaded, killed Americans and Iraqis by the thousands, and stole billions of dollars, based only on brazen lies.
Then compare that with the masterful handling of the Libya thing by a real Statesman President.
Get of the fence..have some guts. Take a side. And stay with it.
Iraqi Freedom is now an Iraqi Responsobillity.
Until it becomes an Iranian responsibility. And.... Then we get to go to war in the Middle East.... Again.... in 2020.
If Iraq is going to become an ally with Iran, there is nothing we can do about it. Keeping 15,000 soldiers there is not going to change it; in fact, it may expediate it. If and when we have to go to war with Iran, it would be nice to be able to use Iraq as a base, but I don't see that happening. Regardless, we can take care of Iran with or without Iraqi help.
Well Mr.Zakaria you can always volunteer yourself for a security detail if it means that much to you. I mean Iraq could always use the help in that department. I'm sure you won't disappoint, but then again...
At long last the end of another wasteful war fought at the expense of taxpayers money. Clap clap!
Another wonk speaks. Everybody bow.
This is the terminis of a "decent interval" endgame conceived by the heirs of Kessinger in 2004 when the President lost interest after the capture of Saddam. As was the case with its original application, this endgame was designed to transfer the blame away to a succeeding administration while disguising a political defeat and transfer of power to an enemy. Unethical and loud sirens will appear among the GOP sideshow barker and the FOX monkey army to convince the guilable that the blame belongs to those heroes who have stopped the bleeding...the Congress of 1974 and the Obama Administration.
Iraq , Yemen, Egypt, Libbya, Afghanistan will never become true western style democracies. It's never their tradition and culture.
Yeah, but do you really want a New World Order anyways? Such a concept seems rather droll to me. Let them decide for themselves how their governments should be run. By trying to force our style of "democracy" on them we only create more enemies.
Both Iran and China are big winners in the Iraq war. But how will they decide between themselves, who is a bigger winner is the question of the the next several years. The sudden resulting power vacuum will be a shock for them both. It may be a good strategic move, from that point of view. But the cost has been tremendous.
Don't bother trying to discuss the actual complexities of geopolitics on this comment board. You will be woefully disappointed when all you get is responses from people who likely believe that if they close their eyes, no one can see them.
Can you see me, Ed? No, you can't. And guess what? I typed this with my eyes closed. So there.
Fareed,
Does it ever cross your mind that perhaps US had no right to invade Iraq? That this war is a crime against humanity? That it is a CRIME to cheerlead for such acts as you always do? You write "We never really understood the country we were getting involved in." The United States did not get "involved in" Iraq. The United States INVADED Iraq. There is a difference and you should know that. As for those SOFAs you clearly are in favor of, if an American politician would sign such agreements, he/she would be on trial for treason. All SOFAs are pure hegemony stuffed down other throats by manipulation and force. Fareed, this is not journalism that you do. It's war cheerleading.
Give me a break. If the US had "invaded" Iraq, then Iraq would be a part of the US right now, not still "Iraq". The US attacked Iraq for US interests, true, but the US never intended to take over the country and keep it, so to say that the US "invaded" Iraq just doesn't make sense.
As an example, the British invaded Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon about 40 years ago. Is that part of the world called Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon any longer? No. It is called Isreal. That is an invasion.
As for the Status of Forces Agreement that the US wants (ok, I had to google SOFA), if Iraq does not want to sign one, then fine, we will bring our troops home. No shoving anything down anywhere. If the US was in a precarious status and needed foreign military bases on our soil to protect our sovereignity, then we would also be asked to sign such agreements. Again, it is standard operating procedure. Like diplomatic immunity.
Blame the war on Sadam Hussein if you like. He should have kept his big mouth shut and his plot to assassinate Pres Bush Snr. What do you expect Junior to do, sit down and do nothing about that threat? "Saddam should be taught a lesson". At the expense of Taxpayers money.
What's Iran gonna do, invade Iraq? Why would anyone want that headache? The people of Iran and Iraq are not likely to have forgotten the bloody war in the 1980s. Here's my prediction....Iraqi freedom influences Iran and the theocracy that few support falls hard and soon, to be replaced by a democracy. The Arab Spring has turned into a Fall of Tyrants and the demand for freedom will only get stronger. Iran is a paper tiger, rotten ripe, ready to implode, held together only by repression and fear.
I agree. Iran's current regime should be very afraid. The rest of the world is waiting patiently for a true rebellion in Iran. Then, Iran will see the world support the uprising as strongly as they ever did the Libyan one.
It's not unheard of for tyrants to use faux nationalism, percieved threat of external conflict, or just simply war to tighten control on their own populace. This is not over because the US troops are leaving Iraq. Iran is researching nuclear weapons technology. Why that doesn't concern anyone on this board, I'm not certain... Maybe because people think they will just use them against Israel, and then once the state of Israel is gone all will be peaches and cream in the Middle East...?
Well, as to the nuclear threat, you have to test such technology before you use it, and the world will know when this happens. As to the threat on Isreal, that isn't the big issue because Isreal can defend themselves. They already have nuclear technology as well as nuclear defense.
The big issue is the resulting war and the possibility of China getting involved. If China decided to defend Iran and the US decides to defend Isreal (which is certain), then we have our first and probably last nuclear war.
I have posted about 30 comments that haven't shown up. Anyone else having this issue?
I see your posts.
A few times I have. Seems to be a random glitch.
I think its an Iranian cyber attack. I quit, this has been going on for 30 minutes now.
Sorry fareed....don't see eye to eye with you on this one....
Well, he is very short from what I hear.
Haha. It's going to end. Deal with it. If you like war don't worry. Give it another 30 years before we get bogged down for 10 years in some other wormhole country. We're about due for a tour of the Congo.
Exactly!
USA's economy depends alot on wars and rumours of wars, anywhere in the world. Think about the cost to USA if it did not have wars somewhere. Fighter jets, bombs, bullets, tanks, logistic movers, defence contractors, nuclear bombs, hi-tech war weapons, warships, etc etc etc. How to sell these without creating a war somewhere?
War is good business for America, and it has to go on. Next war on the horizon for American wear suppliers? How about Taiwan against China?
It's over...bring all the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Let these two countries stand on their own...we have given them the gift of democracy, what they do with it now is no longer our business.
I normally agree with Fareed. However, more and more, he's starting to sound like a "typical" CNN journalist, i.e., someone who is strongly biased in favor of the Israeli position. The thing that made you so great, Fareed, was the fact that you were independent, unbiased, objective and not overly influenced by the Jewish perspective. What happened?
Finally! The war by proxy is over. The proxy is broke.
When none can make sense of the reason for going in, there must be something wrong. How can the leaders of the world's most powerful nation collectively believed in the words of a handful of taxi drivers? Is it really for oil? In that case, I would support it. But you look at the gas price today and tell me.
The president has my vote. He is doing the right thing for the USA. If you are an American, put America first, trusty friends second, scheming "friends" under the bus, properly.
These Moors are animals anyway let them loose their souls. Predator drones hath loosed the fateful lightining of His terrible swift sword, Christian soldiers now wage war from Pensecola.
Better to leave now and let the Iranians train the army rather than spending US dollars training Iran's friends. Look how well working with Saddam Hussein worked out for us. There is too much animosity that will not go away by simply having troops, over 100K civilians killed, Abu Ghraib. Those kinds of things don't go away for a long time. I am sure the Iraqis viewed US involvement the way the rest of the world did, as a reason to fatten the wallets of Halliburton and to have influence on oil deals for the profits of US oil companies. Nobody will miss the US involvement in Iraq, except for war profiteers. An occupying nation does not get away with torturing thousands of innocent people regardless of their stated intentions and expect a positive outcome in relations, especially without so much as a single apology or a single torturer brought to justice, and prosecuting two of the lowest level people following orders is not the same thing as even partial accountability. At least the war in Iraq cost the US less than 1/10th of what the Wall Street short sell mortgage derivatives economic collapse cost us, and the people of the US have had even less accountability over that. There are a lot of lessons to learn over the last decade, but sadly, nothing has been learned, and mistakes with lessons not learned are always repeated sooner than later.
You people have very poor memories. The Iraq conflict started because Hussein didn't let weapons inspectors in, despite the UN mandate. He could have saved his own hide had he let them in. Additionally, all this crap about him not having WMD? Didn't he gas & kill millions of his own people? That is WMD.
We should not have been there in the first place. It is about time we put an end to this charade. And stop raising Iran as the bogeyman. Iran is absolutely nothing; we can dessimate them in a day if Iran even thinks of harming us. We have been in this war for the benefit of the defence industry (especially the like of Halliburtin) who has milked the tax payer for billions. Let stop wasting anymore tax payer money, and let us get the brave men and women who have sacrificed for 9 years back home to their familiies.
Fareed, you seem to have lost your bearings.
what a disaster we can stop throwing money down the tubes for the military industrial compledx, its about time these 'commentators' and 'journalists' start having disclosure like they do on cnbc follow the money good riddance i hope bush and obama can sleep at night only three more wars to withdraw out of after this but trust me they 'find aka create' an incident to keep the 'boys' there huge joke
Shame on you Fareed, for spewing this irresponsible rhetorical at such a time when the world is like a powder keg. How much did "they" pay you to sell your soul?
"Now, is it realistic that all the blood and treasure the U.S. invested in Iraq might, in the end, emerge as a Iranian strategic victory? ".................................The only alternative is to shed more blood. That's the trap we fell into in Vietnam. Maybe we should have a less jingoistic foreign policy, then we wouldn't get into these mindless situations in the first place.
Fareed, I usually agree with you. Not this time. I'll believe there's a reason for USA intervention and imperialism in Iraq when members of the Bush and Romney families join the all volunteer Armed Forces.
Who gave USA to think in this way ? American president is not the king of this world . Iraqi people will determine their strategy with whom they will trust . American army is not teacher that they tech army of every countries in this world whenever any country need . Their excuse was WMD . If it is not in Iraq then USA SHOULD HAVE ASKED PARDON TO IRAQ PEOPLE THEN GIVE COMPENSATION AND FINALLY LEAVE THEIR COUNTRY .
One doesn't build such a powerful military and NOT do anything with it. This was not a presidential decision, this was a societal decision, we build these armies to fight wars, not to dig ditches.
It may be tough on the Iraqis but it was tough on us too.
Yeah, so the departure isn't what the government, including the senior may want, but it isn't as big a deal as Mr. Zakaria suggests. After all if it really gets bad, at least we already know how to invade Iraq, and maybe the next time we will do it the "right" way.
If there is "Iranian influence" in Iraq it is the result of the U.S. invasion of the country. Also, if Iraq is truly a sovereign country, it is not up the the U.S. to determine which countries they are allowed to ally with. This includes asking, or demanding, that the U.S. remove its troops from THEIR territory. (Maybe China should send troops to Washington, D.C. in order to prevent the U.S. from strengthening its ties to India; would Mr. Zakaria view this differently?). . The U.S. has been there for 10 years at a tremendous costs to our treasury, lives of soldiers, and lives of Iraqis. It is time to leave, not leave 15,000 troops to occupy the country.
JUst hope our brave men and women who gave their lives is for not
I feel that every family that lost a loved one should go after Bush personally, he should be jailed, and his whole dam family should be in the poor house beatean down with name disgrace...it was not a War, it was planned murder.
Dear Zakaria
“nothing helps soft power more than hard power” This is a true statement in this part of the world. I agree with your analysis, can someone tell me what we did gain for going into Iraq, if we leaved to Iran? We spend billions of dollars and over 4,000 of our brave men and women dead in Iraq, for nothing. We have to leave because the President did promise during his campaign to leave Iraq on 2011? Iraq is important to our national security to make sure the follow of Gas & Oil and to protect our allies in the region? What will happen if Tehran, Baghdad & Damascus become one axial? Is this is in our national interest or the interest of our friends in the region?