The Consequences of Pulling Out of Iraq in 2011

Less than one week ago, the last remaining United States troops in Iraq crossed the border into Kuwait. I am neutral in whether it was the right time to pull out our troops mainly because I do not know what else we could have accomplished while remaining there (without seriously changing our role), however, Iraq is not ready to govern itself.

As we left, Iraq has no standing Air Force meaning anyone can cross over their skies such as Iran or even Israel. In fact, one of the top Iraqi military leaders, Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari, said Iraq would not be ready to defend its own borders and air space until 2020. Eight years is more than enough time for Iran to turn Iraq into another Lebanon or Syria, essentially another puppet state for the radical regime. I believe the main reason we entered Iraq was to contain Iran (Iraq to the west, Afghanistan to the east) just like Iran is doing to Israel with Syria, Lebanon, Gaza Strip, and now maybe even in Egypt.

To make matters worse, the day after the United States military presence was non existent, the Iraqi government started making moves to possibly reignite sectarian violence. Shiite Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, issued an arrest warrant for Vice President, Tariq al-Hasemi, who is Sunni. The Vice President is now in hiding from Iraqi officials in the northern semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq and al-Maliki is now ordering Kurdistan officials to turn over the Vice President. Surely the coalition government is bound to collapse over this incident and who knows whats in store for the government. All we can do is hope this does not turn into another dictatorship. 


Lastly, as reported today, deadly bombings are now starting to happen as over 50 people have been killed in the most recent attack. No matter what day, month, or year we pulled out, this was bound to happen. While it is not a coincidence, all we can do is hope the Iraqis can find the strength to pull through these terrorist attacks and not revert to another civil war. If that happens, it will not stop until a dictator is once again in power or the nation is divided up into three regions which I don't see happening.


The United States did remove an extremely evil man from power, Saddam Hussein, and did an amazing job with the "troop surge" ordered in 2007. Pulling out of Iraq in 2011 was premature if we wanted the Iraq experiment to succeed so they could have liberty and be able to defend it. While the 2020 mark was way too long into the future, it was not ideal to pull out now, especially because their defense forces are not ready. If Iraq goes back to its historical ways, history could blame President Obama because of his failure to secure a proper deal for the United States military to remain in Iraq for a couple more years. President Bush was constantly in contact with the Iraqi government to secure deals, but, Obama did not show the same due diligence. All we can do now, is hope Iraq can get the proper resources to secure itself quickly and not have the coalition government based on religious factions, collapse.


-Christian N.


Sources:

• http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/18/world/la-fg-iraq-last-convoy-20111219
• http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYV48140VGP9NW1ILBsXkgWVsE4g?docId=CNG.df3ecb21e974d96be42ce539d582b290.3c1
• http://www.theblaze.com/stories/iraq-issues-arrest-warrant-for-sunni-vp-on-terrorism-charges/
• http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/22/explosions-rock-baghdad-7-killed-3-injured/?test=latestnews

Why isn't the Mainstream Media covering Egypt now?

Almost a year ago, I wrote an article about the dangers of the Arab Spring. Mubarak, the former leader of Egypt, was an evil dictator, but did bring relative stability to the region. What I feared, as well as others, plus some Egyptians I know now living in the United States was more radical people would take over in the region making it less stable and giving less freedom to their citizens. As the riots in the streets happened, the Mainstream Media praised them and talked about how the Muslim Brotherhood were "moderate" and a democratically elected Egypt would be great with them in charge.

Flash forward 11 months later and things are way worse now than one year ago and are way worse the geniuses in the Mainstream Media predicted for the "new" Mid East. As the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom reported, the Egyptian military (the same military which the Mainstream Media wanted to throw out Mubarak) is now beating people at will and destroying their property.

Warning, images and video after the break may be disturbing and not appropriate for some to view:

Now Taking Bets on the Next Dictator to go

Tonight it is reported the North Korea Dictator, Kim Jong-IL died at the age of 69. 2011 can be remembered for many things, one of them being for the amount of dictators who died. From the death of Osama Bin Laden to Muammar Gaddafi, 2011 has been a transition of power, but not necessarily for the better. I'll be writing shortly about the latest news in Egypt proving the Arab Spring to be a disaster like some predicted 9 months ago.

Kim Jong-un, the son of the Team American star dictator, will probably not make the region more "stable" than it currently is. In fact, since he is under 30, military leaders may not accept him as the next leader of North Korea which could start a whole new controversy in a nation that has 4th largest military in the world and has nuclear weapons. No one, not even China, knows what will happen within the most isolationist nation on Earth. Certainly, the United States, Japan, and South Korea are on heightened alert status and will be monitoring the situation closely. As the world changes, Asia could be next. China is certainly rising as scene with its military buildup, scaring neighboring nations such as Vietnam and Taiwan. Kim Jong-Il's death may bring less stability in a world struggling for power, yet it is great news the dictator is gone.

Over 3 evil leaders have been killed this year, as well as other controversial leaders killed/removed from power. Who will be next before 2012?  1-5 odds I'll take Fidel Castro, 3-5 odds is Hugo Chavez both because of their health. Wouldn't it be nice for two more "pals" to leave earth? 5-1 odds says Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel. 9-1 is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. 20-1 odds has Bashar al-Assad of Syria, but his stock could rise quickly should NATO/US be allowed to intervene or if the opposition gains more ground. Finally at 100-1 is Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan.


There you have folks, another evil dictator gone in 2011, but now more uncertainty for the future of the world.


-Christian

Sources:


1) http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/images-7/kim-jong-il-team-america.jpg

Cut, Cap, and Balance the Budget Pledge

Let Freedom Ring and 30+ other organizations have recently sponsored a new pledge to cut, cap, and balance the budget. Back in 2009, I worked for Let Freedom Ring and helped launch Pledge to Read where over 100 members of Congress agreed to read the health care bill before voting in favor for it.*

Once again, we will find out which politicians are truly on the people's side to bring back sanity to Washington.

(Blog Postings of mine about Pledge to Read can be found here and here)

Late this evening (6/16/11), radio host Mark Levin interviewed Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) who mentioned the pledge and is working hard to get fellow members of Congress to sign it as well. At the time of this posting, Let Freedom Ring's Pledge website indicated only Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) had signed the pledge, but, based on the interview, it appears Senator DeMint has signed it as well.

Shortly after Mark Levin signed off his radio show, over 1,000 citizens signed the pledge (only roughly 100 signed it before the interview) with Levin stating a personal goal of 10,000 people signing it before he began his radio show friday radio show at 6:00 pm. The pledge was also posted on Mark Levin's facebook page.

As the national debt soars over $14 trillion, America will shortly reach its limit on the debt ceiling before it begins defaulting on its debt, and budget shortfalls in huge government programs such as Medicare, it will be interesting to see where elected members of Congress stand on the pledge and the future of our nation.

If you would like to sign the pledge, learn more about it, and/or would like to send it to your Senators and Representative, please visit: http://www.cutcapbalancepledge.com/

* note: I stopped working for Let Freedom Ring and the end of the summer of 2009 to pursue academics. 


-Christian N.

Memorial Day

Today we may be relaxing at the beach, grilling food with the family, and/or just enjoying the day off from school, but, we should all take a moment and be grateful for the people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our nation that allows us to enjoy the freedoms we choose to exercise on this Memorial Day.


God Bless you, God Bless our troops, and God Bless the greatest nation the Earth has ever scene.










Image: http://memorialday2011.com/MemorialDay.jpg