US envoy against hasty withdrawal

US envoy against hasty Iraq exit
2/6/09
4:52pm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7846048.stm

During President Obama’s presidential campaign he focused on bringing our troops home within sixteen months. This may sound like a great idea to citizens with friends and loved ones involved in the war but the US ambassador and other US officials believe that a hasty withdrawal will cause severe risk and consequences. Ryan Crocker who is the US ambassador believes that although al-Qaeda may be weakened, they are still a threat to the Iraqis. In my personal opinion I agree that a hasty withdrawal will be disastrous not only to the Iraqis but also for the US soldiers. To begin with this withdrawal someone would have to establish which soldiers are allowed to leave first and under what circumstances are they allowed to leave with such a priority. Also, deciding how many troops will leave at a time will be a big decision to make because they will be responsible for getting out equipment out such as convoys. If we have over one thousand troops leaving at a time imagine how long the line of convoys would be to leave Iraq. This will allow al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups to kill a great number of troops at one time. Also, the soldiers that are left until the very end will be put in the most danger because they will not have the support of many other troops backing them up as they prepare to exit. Before the US decides to withdraw we need to make sure al-Qaeda is totally destroyed and come to a compromise.