Thursday, November 03, 2011

Most Americans support withdrawing from Iraq

"According to a recent Gallup poll,75 percent of Americans support President Obama's recent decision to withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. Democrats and independents were strongly in favor of the troop withdrawal, while a slight majority Republicans disapproved of the decision."

11 comments :

Maury said...

I'm pretty sure Americans would favor withdrawing from the other 140 countries we have bases in as well. Nobody ever bothers to ask that one.....LOL.

Anonymous said...

do the Americans get the message? they are NOT welcome in Iraq or in ANY Arab country. Yankees go home!

Iraqi Mojo said...

"The Pentagon is poised to move at least 4,000 soldiers from Iraq to Kuwait at the end of the year, pending a final decision expected soon by Pentagon and Kuwaiti leaders, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The move is part of a still-developing Pentagon strategy that ends the Iraq war but positions a strong U.S. force just across the border in Kuwait and across the region to reinforce the United States’ commitment to the Middle East and prevent a power vacuum when the tens of thousands of U.S. forces who have served in Iraq are gone.

...The plan to beef up U.S. presence in Kuwait also must be approved by the Kuwaiti leaders, although most officials do not believe that will be a problem. The U.S. has had a substantial presence in Kuwait for years, even before the start of the Iraq war."

Iraqi Mojo said...

'With an eye on the threat of a belligerent Iran, the administration is also seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. While the United States has close bilateral military relationships with each, the administration and the military are trying to foster a new “security architecture” for the Persian Gulf that would integrate air and naval patrols and missile defense.

The size of the standby American combat force to be based in Kuwait remains the subject of negotiations, with an answer expected in coming days. Officers at the Central Command headquarters here declined to discuss specifics of the proposals, but it was clear that successful deployment plans from past decades could be incorporated into plans for a post-Iraq footprint in the region.

For example, in the time between the Persian Gulf war in 1991 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the United States Army kept at least a combat battalion — and sometimes a full combat brigade — in Kuwait year-round, along with an enormous arsenal ready to be unpacked should even more troops have been called to the region.'

Iraqi Mojo said...

I am always amused when I hear Arabs, Arab Americans, and Arab Canadians claiming that Americans are not welcome in any Arab country. The ignorance and hypocrisy of the Arabs is quite astounding.

Anand said...

PM Maliki is negotiating about inviting American advisors back into Iraq under diplomatic passport. Probably around 6 thousand or so.

Iraq has had international advisers for centuries.

For example, Indian and to a lesser degree Pakistani advisors were invited into Iraq in large numbers in 1958. Between 1971 - 1990, about 15 thousand Indian advisors in Iraq. Similarly there were large numbers of Russian and French advisors. Saddam didn't trust the Iraqi Army, and as a result relied heavily on his French, Soviet and Indian advisors.

What President Obama has messed up is cutting off grants to the ISF, and not transferring enough equipment to the ISF as US troops left Iraq. Obama should have allowed Iraq more advanced F-16s then what KSA, Egypt, and Jordan get. He didn't. Rather Obama offered Iraq F-16s more dumbed down than the ones the US offered to sell KSA. That was wrong.

Anonymous said...

Mojo your irrelevant. You will never go back to Iraq, and you are not allowed to go back either (because you know the consequences if u do)

idit said...

Mojo

When and if the kurds declare an independence in northern Iraq, What will the Americans do?

Iraqi Mojo said...

I think that depends on how the Arabs, Turkey, and Iran react to Kurdish independence.

Anand said...

I don't think the Kurds will declare independence. Instead they will retain de facto sovereignty.

Interestingly, Turkey has very close relations with Kurdistan, including massive trade and investment. They coordinate their actions with Kurdistan very closely.

Anonymous, Mojo can go to Iraq whenever he wants. Iraq is generally safe for foreigners of Iraqi descent who have family in Iraq.

Many cafes in Baghdad are open passed midnight. An Najaf and Kurdistan are quite safe. Many international business people stay in hotels in Najaf. It is expensive though.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mojo,
I'm surprised that support for the US military pull-out isn't higher than 75 %.For most Americans,the Iraq war has been " over " for several years> It would have been a hoot,tho, to see President Obama explain why he had decided to keep troops in Iraq.....and dear "Anonymous ", You may need to learn to love the Americans > Uncle Sam liberated 20 million Arabs from Saddam's cruel grip> and President OBombi used just enough muscle to help liberate all those nice Arab folks in Libya. Right now your Arab brothers in Syria need liberating..who ya' gonna call ? Stay safe ! bushtheliberator