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Originally Posted by PJO34";p="
I opposed the Iraq war because I don't favor needless and illegal wars, but we can't withdraw our troops. This ill-advised war has claimed over 1700 soldiers, hundreds of contractors, thousands of Iraqi civilians, and a large chunk of taxpayer money. We have passed the point of no return. We can't withdraw without the Iraqi government being able to defend the country or we will have prosecuted a needless and illegal war with nothing to show for it.
As much as we care about our soldiers and want to protect them, the time to protect the soldier was before we put them in harms way; we are too far along to do anything other than work hard, support them, and hope for the best.
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And if the Iraqi soldiers are never very affective against the terrorists, then what? How will we know when it is time to withdraw our forces? More important, when do we recognize that it's useless to stay there. Would you be willing to keep U.S. troops there during fragmentation and comprehensive all out Civil conflict? We cant trust the Bush/Military assessments as to how this war is progressing. The current administration will alway be tossing rosy assessments our way. There will always be yet one more reason we have to stay there. So who do we trust on this?
There will come a point when as a nation we will be willing to invest only so much of our national treasure and sacrifice only so many human lives for this conflict. When we reach that point how do we answer for those who have already been sacrificed. . ?
If Americans keep turning against this war in increasing numbers, that will have a detrimental affect on both the war and the state of this country. PJ, I admire and respect your intellect. But I respectfully disagree with your contention that the time to protect the soldier was before we put him/them in harms way. With great passion, I don't believe it will ever be too late to protect soldiers. I don't want to keep sacrificing soldiers for a worthless cause. PJ, I know your'e an independent thinker. I also know that you articulate yourself better that almost anyone on this board. I would be willing to debate this further with you. Only because in this kind of debate I can learn as well as express.