Response to Dr. Johnson's blog entry (11/24)

Why is President Barack Obama sending more and more troops to the middle east on a yearly basis? Honestly when he was running for president, didnt he state that the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan were going to be withdrawn slowly? We are basically fighting former president George Bush's war, which is pointless and as you stated in class, a war to conquer the middle east. However will sending all of these troops, about 23,000 soldiers to the middle east still leave us in this current recession, a recession that has kept our country in debt since the early 2000's. As stated in the end of the article the estimated cost of the war (that is if we are still involved) can possible range from 700 million to 1 billion dollars which would lead to a supplemental funding bill next year, wow!!!!!!! But what would happen if we pulled the troops from the middle east. Truly we would save millions of dollars, preserve soldiers, and possibly the economy could re-stimulate. However would this move leave us (United States of America) vulnerable or would we lose key allies? Honestly this war is pointless and as I believe, this war is all about controlling the supply of oil. Personally President Obama should pull the troops,slowly out of the middle east because we are fighting a battle that cannot be won. There is far too much turmoil,pain, grief and suffering for many families that have husbands,wives, and children that may never be seen again. What is the worst that could happen if the troops were pulled out? Probably the oil prices would still stay the same or they could change, but who honestly knows the answer to this question? There is only so much anyone can do when the main political party within a country (in this case the "Taliban") seizes control and demands ridiculous expectations from others. While on the other hand, if the soldiers were left in Iraq continuing to fight, would we assume victory in the next decade, and if we were to be successful, would the price of oil decrease dramatically? Again this is another question that we do not know the answer to but hopefully this dilemma will be resolved in the next five years.