According to my fellow colleague, Jade Williams, Jade discusses in her article Farewell Iraq, about the speech President Barack Obama gave at the University of Texas last week. Even though the President gave a speech that was shifted more towards education than the troops, Jade states that his mention of bringing back over 94,000 troops truly had excited her. The article Obama tells veterans that end of Iraq war is about to begin by Scott Wilson and Aaron Blake, states that by bringing back the troops, it is possible that out of 94,000 troops, only 50,000 will return. This is due to the fact that the government plans on allowing certain troops to remain in the country to improve Iraq' s government. It was also said that U.S. troops have remained in Iraq for over seven years and Iraq has yet to form a productive government. The only remaining question that has everyone wondering is will Iraq be able to remain somewhat stable with out the aide of the United States?
However, even though many would like to see the troops in Iraq return, their are still many who oppose the idea. Jade also mentions Tim Arango' s article U.S. And Iraqi Interests May Work Against Pullout, seems to contradict Obama' s plan to remove troops by the end of 2011. Arango states that the U.S. troops should remain in Iraq to help develop Iraq' s government. He also mentions that by remaining in Iraq, the United States would be able to gain more oil reserves. Jade then states that she does not believe the troops should remain in Iraq just for oil resources. She then mentions that even though she desires for troops to return to the United States, that she still would like to know if Iraq would remain stable. Also the fact, if removing the troops will be a successful task to perform because, indeed, it sounds to good to be true.
Overall, I would have to agree with Jade' s statements in which she made in her article. First off, I would agree that by keeping U.S. troops in Iraq just for oil resources does not sound like such a good idea. I personally do not agree with this because it is just as saying a person' s life is nothing more than oil, which is wrong. I would also have to agree with both Jade and President Obama that we have helped Iraq but they have not made any effort to improve themselves. So in the end, we need to see if they can help themselves rather then rely on the United States for everything. Too many troops have already died in Iraq and should be able to return home. Even though putting Obama' s plan in action may take some time. I feel that it should be put into action no matter how long it takes. People should not die for foolish nor should they die simply for oil.
