Troop Movement in Iraq

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89418336 (this link has a short article as well as a clip from NPR news.)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/04/03/iraq.main/index.html

The two articles I chose to reflect upon both deal with troop movement in Iraq and the Middle East. For as long as I can remember, the “number one priority” of many elected officials has been to get our troops out of Iraq now before things get any worse. These two articles, one from National Public Radio and one from CNN.com, both detail what the U.S. plans to do with their troops. As far as I can tell, it seems as if we are going to be engaged in this war for a lot longer than we had anticipated. According to NPR, plans to reduce troop numbers in Iraq have been deferred and delayed until this fall. This means that any notion of a large troop reduction has been stomped out. Over the summer, some troops will be sent home, however, the speaker notes that General Petraeus wants to “have a pause that will ensure the security forces can hold.” This means that our government wants to make sure Iraq can stand on its own two feet before we finally get our troops out of there. According to NPR, provincial elections are supposed to be held in October, so our troops will more than likely stay there AT LEAST until then, to make sure everything plays out smoothly. The information provided from the two correspondents does not seem bias. It feels as if they are being very straightforward with their information and views.

On the other hand, the CNN article deals with troop movement and re-assignment. Due to recent attacks in Basra, high level officials and infantry have been and are presently being re-ordered to the city. The article states that Iraqi forces were being overwhelmed, so American troops were sent in to bolster the defenses of the area. Because of small arms fire in the area, air strikes have been called down on the area and many reports of civilian casualties have come out. American military strikes in Basra are focused on “criminal elements in the southern Iraqi city.” American and Iraqi troops are also “targeting strongholds of Shiite militants, including members of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.” What this all means is that there is still very strong opposition to the American and Iraqi allied forces in the country and that no time soon do the “insurgents” plan to back down. Later on in the article, it is stated that the Shiite’s have been pushed into a rage and violence has broke out in Basra and all across southern Iraq.

Now, what does all of this mean to me? First of all, I think a lot of the information we are fed by the media has a lot of holes in it. I firmly do not believe our troops will be coming out of Iraq anytime soon. With all of the “chaos” that is continuously reported, it is hard to tell whether or not the area is ready to govern itself. I think the idea that we are “spreading democracy” in Iraq is in itself flawed. A country does not have to be democratic to function properly. Our interests in Iraq differ greatly than what the media informs us. I also believe that we will be deploying more troops from the U.S. overseas to Iraq in the near future. We are too engrossed in this conflict to just simply back out now. To me, it seems like our government is not interested in either winning or losing this war, but saving face and pride. We were embarrassed once thirty years ago by stupid military actions in an Asian country and it seems as if our government will be damned to have it happen again.