Thursday, November 22, 2007

General says bring the troops home

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1A6ECC80-90C5-4A50-AF1D-07F24D2999DA.htm


The former top US military commander in Iraq says American troops should pull out by next year.

Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez said he supported troop withdrawal legislation by the Democratic-controlled congress that calls for most US soldiers to be home within a year.

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The occupation of Iraq has lasted longer than WWII, cost the US thousands of lives and so far about $1/2 trillion. The US first allowed Iraq to be looted, then fired their technocrats, then fired their entire army, then refused to say when they'd end their occupation. Unemployment in Iraq is pegged at 40%. There's less electricity now than under Saddam. Untold numbers of Iraqis have been killed. Over 2 million have chosen to flee.
People say we can't leave now because things will go bad. What? You mean we've been doing good? We haven't exactly been good stewards, with $9 billion unaccounted for, and thousands of weapons missing that have probably gone straight to the insurgents. Iraq is one of the oldest countries in the world. I'll bet they can run their country better than we have.

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