Troop Withdrawal Timetables Divide Democrats

Stewart A. Alexander
Views and News

March 11, 2007

The campaigning for the 2008 election is off to an early start and the Democrats in both Houses of Congress are using the Iraq War for political leverage to boaster early public support; however Democrats are deeply divided on troop withdrawal timetables, ranging from mid 2007 to various open-ended commitments to continue the war and occupation beyond 2008.

Over 81 percent of all Americans support ending the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and the Iraq Civil War, and to bring all U.S. troops home; 37 percent support an immediate withdrawal. At the same time that Congress is attempting to develop a workable timetable, legislation is moving ahead to give the Bush administration over $100 billion to continue the war.

Many House Democrats seem to be supportive of legislation that would set guidelines for withdrawal by the fall of 2008, and that timetable could be accelerated to an earlier date if the government of Prime Minister Nourish al-Maliki does not meet certain conditions; such as progress toward providing for his country’s security and a fair system for amending the government’s constitution.

Democratic candidates on the campaign trail for the 2008 election have provided their own timetables ranging from the end of 2007, the schedule proposed by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson; to January 2009, presented by Senator Hillary Clinton (N.Y.).

While Congress continues to work on a deadline to withdraw troops, the casualties continue to mount on both sides. Since the war began, March 19, 2003, American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are now more than 3,560, the official count; and Iraqi casualties number more than 660,000, according to non-official accounts. The war has created more than 3.9 million refugees and the cost to rebuild Iraq will exceed $1 trillion.

It is estimated that the war will cost the U.S. government approximately $2 trillion and prolonging the war will pose national and international security risk to American interest at home and abroad.

The majority of left groups and political organizations nationwide are demanding an immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan on a timetable limited to weeks instead of years. The majority of the left groups, excluding the Democrats, support a withdrawal timetable that is tied to impeachment and not the hundreds of billions to fund the war.

For more information search the Web for Stewart A. Alexander; Democrats Waffling on Iraq War.

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