The Iraq War Is Over
By Anthony Gregory • Wednesday August 18, 2010 8:24 AM PDT • 13 Comments
Of course, not really. But Obama’s August deadline for the end of the war has passed and now all the U.S. troops are no longer “combat” forces but rather “transition forces.” Similarly, next July there is supposed to be a drawdown in Afghanistan—but who can believe it will be any more than some cosmetic change? Moreover, in Iraq the U.S. has another deadline next year “etched in stone,” but what does that mean? The State Department is pushing for its own military footprint in Iraq, and Obama has said very little about the permanent bases and contractors. The U.S. presence in both nations will continue until the natives force out the occupying troops, the U.S. runs out of money, or the American people demand a full withdrawal and make clear to politicians they will tolerate no less. Can we expect anything like this to happen?
More than six years ago, the U.S. government was talking about handing Iraq off to the Iraqis so American forces could leave. I called out the administration then in an Institute op-ed “The Iraqization Scam.” This was a couple years before pundits and policy wonks began calling the U.S. policy “Iraqization.” But now it looks like even I was optimistic, as cynical as I was about actual U.S. intentions to leave the country and region. It appears the U.S. will continue to occupy both Iraq and Afghanistan for the indefinite future, seeing as how the Mr. Nobel Peace Prize is in charge of the wars and, although more Americans want the U.S. to leave, it seems fewer are adamant about it as a political priority.
Remember when John McCain said we might stay in Iraq for 100 years? That was over two years ago. The Democrats had a field day. But now their president is securely on the McCainian path in Iraq. And now, with some defenders of the war citing Korea as an example of a supposedly successful war from which the U.S. never really withdrew, I have to worry. Will a heavy-handed and deadly U.S. occupation of the Middle East become a permanent fixture of the U.S. political landscape? Again, perhaps only running out of money will end the madness. The empire and welfare state, if they have a silver lining, at least contain the seeds of their own destruction, however tragically gradual.
Tags: Iraq, Middle East, War 
The power elite, our rulers, are not concerned because our war with Iran is certain to begin soon, satisfying their demand for continuous war.
richard | Aug 18, 2010 | Reply
While the warfare-welfare-state buildup has been gradual, I think the unwinding is going to be quite sudden and possibly violent.
Despite Bernanke’s claims about having an exit strategy, we’re talking about a man that couldn’t detect the world’s largest asset bubble staring him in the face two years ago. By the time he reacts to the inevitable velocity of money increase, it will be too late to put the genie back in the bottle.
Once the dollar crashes, all the “free” stuff Obama is handing out will go away, as will America’s imperial ambitions. There was Rome, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. America is next.
Steve Hogan | Aug 18, 2010 | Reply
Anthony,
Did anybody expect otherwise? In nearly every major country we’ve invaded (excepting Vietnam, et cetera) we have kept maintained a military presence. These figures may be a bit dated, but are probably more or less accurate: Germany (~75,000), South Korea (40,000+) and Japan (40,000+).
Barring a complete rout from Iraq and Afghanistan, did anybody really believe that the United States would fully withdraw? I am actually surprised that the “peacekeeping” force in Iraq is “only” 56,000 strong (although, one can only wonder how large the mercenary contingent is).
All-in-all, I think you probably are right. There is nothing short of monetary fiscal limits (probably high inflation, as given that the government controls the supply of money it technically can’t run out of it) that can reverse this trend.
Jonathan M. F. Catalán | Aug 18, 2010 | Reply
Something everyone doesn’t consider is how integrated the US is into every other economy. If the US economy crashed and the dollar broke, the Global Economy which is essentially BUILT on the back of the US economy would also break.
A World-Wide Great Depression would begin like no one has ever seen.
This however would be the opportunity for the US to become one country with Mexico and Canada, because both of those economies would be bankrupt as well.
The ‘last man standing’ would be China because of their TRILLIONS of surplus currency from the US and EU to Africa.
With the demise of the US Currency China’s rise would skyrocket, because the Yuan would be the only currency with any real value. ALL currency’s would then be leveraged against the Yuan and China would find itself in the same position as the US has for Decades, as the entire WORLD either decries China for not Policing the World well enough or decries China for Policing it too much.
Raymond | Aug 19, 2010 | Reply