President Barack Obama said the words many Americans have been anxiously waiting to hear since U.S. forces stepped foot on Iraqi soil in March 2003 — our troops are coming home.
Obama officially announced the end of the war in Iraq Oct. 21, and said all American troops will be withdrawn by the end of 2011, a condition established by President George W. Bush in 2008.
In the next two months, 40,000 soldiers will be reunited with their family, friends and communities, and they deserve it.
We should be happy for the families most directly affected by overseas combat because they no longer have to spend every day wondering if their solider will make it through.
And this is where the focus of Obama’s announcement should be. Not in the politics of red versus blue and not in next year’s presidential election. The move is not about going against Republican beliefs or playing to Democrat voters.
It is about how our troops have now been fighting this war for a decade, and it is time to stop.
Iraq is in a state where it has a functioning government, and now it is time to let that government fend for itself. The U.S. has done all it can and to stay would just pour more money and resources into an overflowing well that continues to pump our domestic problems dry.
Obama said in his announcement the nation that needs to be built now is our own. Most Americans — Republican or Democrat — should be able to agree on this point. It is time to address our discouraging economy, and actually have troops stationed in our country.
Our troops need to be put in a position to protect the people they serve rather than being sent to every other country in the world, and that change begins with the Department of Defense. It is time the U.S. Department of Defense adjusted to fulfill the service it was set up to do. Withdrawing from Afghanistan needs to be next.
Agree or disagree with Obama, catering to win re-election votes or not, conservative or liberal, the fact remains the same — it is about damn time our troops come home.
— ER