What Would Happen if the Troops Left in April 2008?

The House approved the Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act today by a vote of 223-201. The fell right along party lines, with four Republicans voting with the Democrats while 10 Democrats voted with Republicans.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor today in support of H.R. 2956:

Passage of Chairman Skelton’s bipartisan bill will reflect he will of the American people and reaffirm the judgment of the House. That the redeployment of our troops is a central element in an effective way forward in Iraq. We will repeat that judgment legislatively as often as necessary, hopefully with an increasing level of support from our Republican colleagues, until pressure from the American people causes the President to change his mind and his policies.

I’m not surprised that this bill was approved in the House and might have a chance in the Senate. However, if that does happen Bush won’t think twice about pulling his veto pen.

However, as more and more of these votes come up I think what would happen if we began to leave Iraq. There are great posts (part one & part two) I found on this very topic.

I think these are great questions to think about:

If we withdrew from Iraq today…

…what would happen to the U.S. image world-wide? Would it become worse or be better than it now is?

… what would be the plight and future of the Iraqi people?

… what would happen to the Iraqi government? Will maintain democracy?

… what impact would such a move have on the security of the greater Middle-East? Who would it help, who would it harm (if anyone)?

… what impact would it have on terrorist movements across the World? Would the US be safer from Terrorist attacks?

… what would Iran and Syria do? Would Iran attempt to install an Islamic government based on their theocracy? If so, is that a bad thing?

… would Iraq fall into full civil war that would evolve into another Somalia or Sudan?

… what would happen to the booming economies in the Northern (Kurdish) and Southern parts of Iraq?

… who would control the oil? Would the Iraqi people benefit from it?

… what do China and Russia do? Do they seek to exert their influence more?

… what economic impact does it have on the US? Does it promote or denigrate American economic interests and influence throughout the World?

I have being speaking against the war since the very beginning, but I do worry about what happens if we leave. It is no secret that the American people are not favor of the Iraq War; however, I’m concerned that if we leave before the Iraqi Gov’t is ready we would be doing more harm then good…

Iraq Comes in #2 Among World’s Failed States

According the NY Times article, Iraq is now ranked the second among the world’s failed states, Iraq was #4 last year. The 2007 Failed States Index, produced by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace. The index is generated by a multitude of a range of social, economic, political and military indicators. Iraq ranked fourth last year.

The NYT wend on to stated, “The index said Sudan, the world’s worst failed state, appears to be dragging down its neighbors Central African Republic and Chad, with violence in the Darfur region responsible for at least 200,000 deaths and the displacement of 2 million to 3 million.”

I thought that President Bush’s aim was to help the world and bring peace and stability to the region and the vehicle for that was suppose to be removing Saddam Hussein and making it a democracy.

The problem with Mr. Bush’s aim is that a democracy must come from the people of the country and they crave that change it must be a social revolution not a military move by a foreign country. Which is apparent since the Iraqi Government is falling behind on the benchmarks that they help create. I never supported the War in Iraq; however, I believe that not all of the failure should fall upon President Bush, the Iraqi Government must take action. I think it was not justified to go in, but we are here now so we must do the best we can and Iraq must be a cooperative effort. If the Iraqi Government is failing act and work to bring stability to their country.