Why we are in Iraq

I'm pretty sure the question "Why are we in Iraq?" has been asked at least once by every citizen in America, not to mention by many who are not. I think the answer depends on your point of view, because truthfully, there are many reasons why we are in Iraq. Our commander-in-chief claims we are there to help liberate its people from the oppressive rule of a vicious dictator, and bring democracy to a land that has seen more than its share of turmoil. Many critics of the war will tell anyone who will listen that this war was started simply out of greed for the natural resources of the Middle East. Others state that it was simply a ploy by the President to make himself look better internationally, though I do not see how this war has made him look much better, so I do not think this is the case. I believe we are in Iraq for a combination of reasons, some selfish, some altruistic.

I generally do not like arguing on a topic that I do not know much about, and I hate to admit it, but I have not been keeping up with news on the war as well as I should have. Still, I can easily say that while I do not fully support the idea of the war itself, I am completely behind our troops. I understand how hypocritical this sounds, but in the end, they are still the defenders of our nation. They fight for us, even though they may not support the war themselves. That shows great loyalty to the country, and I feel that we owe them the same loyalty back.

I have never really been a big proponent of the war, because it always seemed to me like too big of a risk, especially when most of the world was not behind us. But at this point, with the Iraqi people freed, and the tyrant gone, I feel it is too late to pull back. We have already put so much into this war, it would be a bad idea not to go all the way through with it, no matter the reason it was initially started. If we leave now, it is unlikely that the Iraqi democracy will be able to stand on its own shaky legs, resulting in a loss of all we fought for. We would have essentially brought these people out of a dictatorship only to put them into a state of anarchy, which would likely be remedied only by the rising of another dictator Many have paid with their lives to bring these people democracy, and to leave before it is fully established and their people self-sufficient, would make their sacrifice worthless and be an insult to their memory.