Five More Years

The answer to why we are in Iraq seems to change from year to year. Originally, it was about (or at least superficially about) Iraq having WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. Colin Powell presented all his evidence to the United Nations. He had an array of findings from satellite photos of suspicious trucks to diagrams of possible nuclear warehouses. The UN did not back us, but we went with our instincts and feel at the time and went in. The public still being in a post-9/11 mindset, we were still very supportive of our government and the war on terrorism. In the five years since the war started, support has dwindled and it has become less of a war and more of an occupation. If we have learned anything from history it is that occupations are never welcome, and Iraq is no exception.
The image of us being in Iraq has changed drastically since we toppled Saddam. We are now seen as a crumbling empire trying to greedily grab glory and influence while we still can. It has crippled us even more, though, costing billions a year and weakening an economy bordering on recession. It was supposed to open up trade and freedom in the Middle East, but it has isolated us from the rest of the world. It was supposed to get us oil and more resources. We still have not seen any.
Iraq has become a Catch-22 for the United States. We can’t stay because our soldiers are dying, and we have no business being there in many people’s opinions. We can’t leave either, because we could be leaving them to chaos and a worse regime than the one we got rid of. It is a complex problem that is not going to be solved easily. There seems to be no compromise in the situation that could happen anytime soon. Something has to change, though.