Has the War really ended?
On the night of 31 August, Barack Obama, the USA President completed his promise. He withdrew the remaining combat troops from Iraq. But the speech at the night of 31 August, marking the end of the war, was inconsistent, unfocused and did not mark a clear path to the future. It was a rare moment of dishonesty by a politician who usually is quite frank and open at moments of such great importance.
On one hand: "There should be no doubt the Iraqi people will have a strong partner in the United States; our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not."
But on the other hand: "Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it is time to turn the page."
Its obvious that this decision was not one pondered over or given too much thought.
When Bush made the decision to overthrow Saddam back in 2003, he was supported by the majority of Americans. But poor managing decisions and various shocking scandals led to most of the people opposing the war. In fact, Obama's promise to end the war was one of the highlights of his campaign. Yet now it seems that Obama is too focused on completing his pledges to take in the bigger picture.
The withdrawal of troops was hurried. Sure, Iraq is not in the same oppresive state it was under Saddam Hussein but its still a long way from a full fledged democracy. The Iraqi general election was held sometime five months back. The voter turnout was impressive. But the job is not yet finished. The main political parties are still arguing over who will form the new government. As of now, the war torn land is devoid of any stable government. This is the time when the Iraqi forces need the Western support the most. The Iraqi forces have taken leaps and strides in trying to safeguard the country but without a stable government it will be useless.
The terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda made its return to Iraq and Afghanistan back in 2007. They will be hungry for vengeance as large parts of Iraq were directly under their control until Saddam was overthrown in 2003. As of now, the terrorist outfit still hasn't been able to successfully reassert its power. The withdrawal of Western forces will surely be the right now to strike back with full force. To keep the Al Qaeda forces in control, it makes more sense to withdraw the troops only after the formation of a government.
Considering all this, its surprising that Obama made this decision....or is it? The mid-term elections begin in November. Desperate to save his plunging popularity ratings, the President saw withdrawing troops as the quickest way to raise his popularity and save himself from possible humilitiaon in the elections.
What will happen to Iraq? The US troops are pulling out of Iraq at a most crucial time and this might just mean that the US troops failed to accomplish anything significant.