In the past seven years, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars and many other resources in the Iraq War. However, President Barack Obama’s Aug. 31 address confirmed the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.
Combat forces are withdrawn, but some 50,000 troops will “remain until the end of 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect U.S. interests,” according to an Aug. 2 BBC article. America will soon be out of a war which has cost over 4,000 American lives.
Although the BBC reports that the Iraqi government contains widespread corruption, the Iraqis will soon be in control of their own nation, without coalition forces roaming the streets.
In fact, a 2005 poll taken by the Brookings Institute found that 82 percent of Iraqis are strongly opposed to presence of coalition forces.”
The Iraqis may feel strongly about the war due to the civilian casualty rate which has mounted during the conflict. According to a United Nations report, over 600,000 civilians may have been killed over the course of the war.
The U.S. military has also suffered throughout the war. As of Aug. 23, 4,420 service men and women have died in this conflict. Another consequence of the war is that 30 percent of U.S. troops who returned were later diagnosed with serious mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
However bleak these statistics may appear, the Iraq War created a new government out of the ashes. The Iraqi government has shown noticeable progress and growth. Their security forces have an estimated strength of somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 soldiers.
Although the security forces demonstrate promise, Iraqi citizen Samir Alwan, 28, in a Sept. 1 New York Times article, said, … I think that the Iraqi Army is only able to secure the south of the country and unable to secure Baghdad and Mosul.
However, some believe the insurgency problem in Iraq may be due to the U.S. presence. When American troops leave, the insurgency might step down its attacks because there will no longer be a western presence in the Iraqi streets. In fact, before coalition forces invaded Iraq, there was an average of 14 insurgent attacks per day and, after 2004, the attacks per day reached more than 74.
Overall, the cost of the war might amount to more than $1 trillion, adding to the U.S. federal deficit. The war has cost thousands of troop lives and even more Iraqi lives. Nonetheless, the people of Iraq show eagerness toward leading their own nation.
For more coverage of politics, read the Sept. 1 article, Boxer, Fiorina clash in senatorial debate.
