Did the U.S. Withdraw from Iraq Too Soon? >
American Counter-terrorism Efforts Will Suffer
The real winner in the Middle East will be Iran
January 23, 2012
About Helle Dale:
Helle C. Dale is the Heritage Foundation's Senior Fellow in Public Diplomacy studies. Her current work focuses on the U.S. government's institutions and programs for strategic outreach to the public of foreign countries, as well as more traditional diplomacy, critical elements in American global leadership and in the war of ideas against violent extremism.
The short answer is 'yes.' The American troop withdrawal completed on December 15 jeopardizes both the progress and the sacrifice made over the last 10 years in Iraq.
The Obama administration has chosen a reckless course of action. It withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq before victory had been consolidated. This will allow the president to claim a major campaign promise fulfilled before the next presidential election. Not only that, but in the rush to get out, the administration clumsily failed even to negotiate terms for extending the troop presence before the deadline ran out.
[Iran Could Strike US in Afghanistan, Iraq.]
Let us not forget, the Bush administration also planned to leave Iraq by the end of 2011. But their plan called for keeping a number of U.S. forces in Iraq as trainers and advisors, a far more responsible course of action.
For the Iraqi people, the consequences of the premature American withdrawal will be instability, resurgence of terrorism and an uncertain future for Iraq's fledgling democracy. On December 22, a wave of violent, coordinated attacks killed at least 57 people, and just days after the December 15th withdrawal ceremony, the dominantly Shiite government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki purged many Sunni Arab leaders. Political instability is sure to follow. The Iraqi army and air force training will suffer as will air operations, the Iraqi air force having few helicopters and planes.
[Why America Is More Violent Than Other Democracies.]
For U.S. national security, likewise, the Obama administration's action will be detrimental. American counter-terrorism efforts will suffer as opportunities for intelligence gathering and surveillance will disappear. And of course the real winner in the Middle East will be Iran, whose interference in Iraqi politics and violations of its borders are sure to intensify. The Obama administration has washed its hands of an inconvenient war it never wanted. For this, many others will pay a steep price.
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- Other Arguments
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#15527
Yes — The U.S. must pressure Iraq to avoid a new sectarian civil war
ROBERT ZARATE, Policy Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative
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#29068
No — The war should never have been launched--so it can't be ended soon enough
PHYLLIS BENNIS, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
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#33928
No — The United States should never have invaded in the first place
CHRISTOPHER PREBLE, Vice President for Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute
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#42518
No — Mission to promote "democracy" in Iraq was an unobtainable objective
DANIEL J. GALLINGTON, Senior Policy and Program Adviser at the George C. Marshall Institute
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#53934
No — The withdrawal demonstrated to the people of Iraq and their neighbors that democracy works
LAWRENCE J. KORB, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
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#63026
Yes — Iraq's fragile coalition government has begun to come apart at the ethnic and sectarian seams
ILAN BERMAN, Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council
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#73433
Yes — Iraq might take 15 or 20 years to become a functioning democracy
MICHELE DUNNE, Director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
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#93031
Yes — Pulling the covers over our eyes and leaving the region is not a thought-through strategy
THOMAS HENRIKSEN, Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and at the U.S. Joint Special Operations University
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#103035
Yes — The president, in his own words, wanted to fulfill a campaign promise
DANIELLE PLETKA, Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
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#11819
No — Arms sales to Iraq also will provide a continuing source of connectivity
DANIEL GOURÉ, Vice President at the Lexington Institute
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#124153
No — The Iraq War cost the United States 4,421 lives and $806 billion
DENNIS KUCINICH, U.S. Representative, Ohio's 10th District
