My Paper Opposing John McCains "Plan for Victory in Iraq"

I am opposing U.S.U. 13: The Victory over Terrorism Act. The enactment of this measure will change the current U.S. policy by increasing troops in Iraq, accelerating the rate of the training and equipping of Iraqi armed forces and police, and accelerating political and economic reconstruction. This will change the current policy on the Iraq war, which is very similar, by intensely increasing our troop numbers, accelerating efforts to make Iraq a stable democracy, staying in Iraq at all costs until victory is accomplished, and an increase in funding for the war (McCain).
My opponents favor U.S.U. 13 because, as John McCain says, "Defeat in the war would lead to much more violence in Iraq, greatly embolden Iran, undermine U.S. allies such as Israel, likely lead to wider conflict, result in a terrorist safe haven in the heart of the Middle East, and gravely damage U.S. credibility throughout the world." Because of these things, my opponents feel that increased and continual efforts are necessary, and that we must remain in Iraq until we have succeeded in creating a utopia. (McCain)
U.S.U. 13 should be opposed, and we should begin the withdrawal of troops from Iraq by 2009, mainly because the cost of this war does not warrant what little benefit we have gained from its engagement. The war to date has cost nearly 500 billion dollars, and is projected to cost well over a trillion dollars before it is finished (APM). The Iraq war is also vastly unpopular with both the voters, and an overwhelming majority of the world. Nearly 4000 U.S. troops have died, along with over 600,000 Iraqi civilians, and the progress made in the last five years has not been enough to justify these statistics (Lewis). The current policy on the Iraq War was recently pegged by the Joint Economic Committee to cost about $1.3 trillion, however, Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz predicted the number will ultimately reach $3 trillion (APM). Stiglitz also said, "Had we waited for the outcome of the U.N. weapons inspections, the value of the information would arguably have saved the nation at least $1 trillion — enough to fix Social Security for the next 75 years twice over." (Hanley) USU.13 would end up costing the country much more than this estimate, especially because there is no projected end in sight. John McCain says, “The American people also deserve to know that the path ahead will be long and difficult. They have heard many times that the violence in Iraq will subside soon - when a transitional government is in place, when Saddam is captured, when elections are held, when a constitution is in place. John McCain believes it is far better to describe the situation just as it is - difficult right now, but not without hope.” There is no projected end of the war with this bill. Funding would need to be appropriated for the “greater military commitment,” that McCain describes, for the training of the Iraqi military and police force, and for the vast restructuring of Iraq in general (McCain). With no cap on spending, who knows what kind of economic burden this country could be facing. As Rep. John Murtha said, the full costs of this war have not yet been felt because the US is "put[ting] a trillion-dollar war on a credit card and leav[ing] the bills for our children to pay." (LaFranchi)

The cost of life that has been paid for the current policy of this war, is enough to not take any chances on prolonging it. As stated earlier there have been over 600,000 civilian casualties, and nearly 4000 troops have lost their lives. Not only are we putting our troops in danger, but the number of civilian lives lost is colossal. There has not been enough progress to indicate that this huge sacrifice was necessary. Soldiers are also returning from the war with several mental illnesses, in what is being called “A Suicide Epidemic.” In data reviewed from all fifty states in 2005, there were at least 6,256 suicides among veterans, and those between the ages of 20 and 24 are hit the
hardest. Their suicide rate was two to four times higher than civilians of the same age (CBS). We are not only putting our troops in danger on the field, but the affects of war are leaving emotional scars that are just as devastating.

McCain wants to bolster troop numbers, and has used the latest success of the troop surge as evidence that more U.S. military establishment in Iraq will help promote peace. However, the current progress claimed in Iraq due to troop surge is vastly exaggerated. Rageh Omaar states, “The reality is that the surge is not what has led to the lower levels of violence, and attacks on US troops are still causing considerable casualties. What has had a far greater impact has been the decision by the radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to call a ceasefire between his Mahdi army, a force of up to 100,000, and US troops and Iraqi government security units.” Many of Sadr’s commanders are urging him to end the ceasefire and carry out revenge attacks again. If Sadr listens to his grass-roots supporters, the lull in the violence will end immediately, and no boost of troop levels will have any effect. “The greatest success of the surge has been in the way it was sold politically, and thus has become almost unquestioningly accepted as a panacea for the violence in Iraq,” Omaar said. (Omaar).

The number of Iraqis killed in February rose by 33 percent over January, and official figures show a reversing six-month trend of reduced violence, in a setback to the US military plan to curb Iraq's bloodshed (AFP). This is evidence that the lull in violence is coming to an end, and that many more lives are going to be needlessly lost if we continue to fight this war.

Public opinion in the United States shows that the vast majority of people oppose this war. McCain says, “If efforts in Iraq do not retain the support of the American people, the war will be lost as soundly as if our forces were defeated in battle.” (McCain). Since the summer of 2005, opponents of the war have tended to outnumber supporters and a majority of Americans believe the war was a mistake. Most Americans support the idea of a timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, specifically when asked, Americans seem to prefer keeping troops for only about another year. My proposal is that we begin withdrawing troops in 2009, which is the one year time table the American people are demanding. Voting for USU.13 would be in direct opposition of the voter’s opinion. (Gallup)

Echoing the American people, if not emphasizing them, is the opinion of the world. The war has been vastly unpopular with the international world, and the continuity of it has shown a decline in support from our allies. The BBC conducted a World Service poll of more than 26,000 people across 25 different countries, which, as the United States government prepared to send a further 21,500 troops to Iraq, revealed that three in four (73%) disapprove of how the US government has dealt with Iraq. We have lost the support of the international community, and we cannot afford this. It is imperative that the United States remain in good favor with the world to maintain healthy public relations. Blatantly ignoring the world’s opinion will greatly hurt America. (BBC)

If the world’s opinion is not enough, the opinion of the Middle East itself should be considered. Muslim-majority countries, as well as 75 percent of American Muslims and 70 percent of British Muslims, believe the "War on Terrorism" actually is a "War on Islam." A growing number of people, both at home and abroad, believe the U.S. is fighting this war in order to control world oil supplies, achieve world hegemony and support Israel (Hanley).

We went to war in the first place to fight terrorism, and our efforts have not been completely in vain. We have captured or killed over 5000 terrorists since September 11^th (Ross). The next goal in this war was to bring democracy and freedom to the Iraqi people. However, in the process of bringing democracy and ending terrorism, 600,000 innocent civilian lives have been taken, which gives us a ratio of one terrorist captured or killed for every 120 civilians killed. Have we really made the world a safer place by capturing these terrorists and by making efforts to stabilize the Middle East, or have our efforts just added kindling to the fire? If we have made some progress, is it enough in comparison for how much we have had to pay for it? In the latest poll, taken on September 2007, on whether the Iraq war has made the U.S. safer or less safe to Terrorism attacks, it was the opinion of 40% of the U.S. public that the U.S. was more safe, while 49% believed it to be less safe, and 10% felt that our efforts had made no change. It should be noted that this poll has been conducted five times since June 2005, and in every poll the majority of the public said that the war had made America less safe. (Gallup)

The costs of this war have proven to far outweigh the benefits. The American people and the majority of the world are largely opposed to the war, and many believe that it has only worsened the situation in the Middle East. The United States’ spending on the war will affect generations to come, and the copious spending needs to be ended, not extended. U.S.U. 13 should be opposed, and we should begin the withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2009. It is time to admit defeat, listen to the voters and the international community, bring our troops home, and end the unnecessary deaths that have occurred. We cannot fight for this cause any longer, the cost to the United States is too high.

Citations

(AFP) Iraq violence surges in February, 1 Mar. 2008 (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsNMHnHpeQNKTLKuu2JDBdz_vtqg)

(APM) Iraq War could cost trillions more. American Public Media 28 Feb. 2008 (http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/02/28/3_trillion_for_war)

(BBC) World Service Poll, BBC, 23 Jan. 2007 (http://www.pbs.org/weta/crossroads/incl/bbcpoll.pdf)

(CBS) Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans, CBS News, 13 Nov. 2007 (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/cbsnews_investigates/main3496471.shtml)

(Gallup) Polls on Iraq (http://www.gallup.com/poll/1633/Iraq.aspx)

(Hanley) The Terrible Costs of Bush's Reckless "War on Terror", Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs, Nov 2006

(http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=17&sid=a51f80b1-c250-48d7-b205-91d5fb7fc281%40sessionmgr7)

(LaFranchi) Howard LaFranchi. For Candidates, Iraq Debate shifts, Christian Science Monitor, 25 Feb. 2008 (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=30106341&site=ehost-live)

(Lewis) Kristen Lewis. To Iraq and Back, Scholastic Scope, 4 Feb. 2008 (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=28633031&site=ehost-live)

(McCain) Strategy for Victory in Iraq (http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/issues/fdeb03a7-30b0-4ece-8e34-4c7ea83f11d8.htm)

(Omaar) Rageh Omaar. The illusory success of the surge, New Statesman, 25 Feb. 2008 (http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=30016470&site=ehost-live)

(Ross) The Blotter:CIA: 5,000 Terrorists Captured or Killed, Brian Ross (http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/cia_5000_terror.html)