Despite my support of the Dems and their promises to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, the likelihood of entirely removing the US military presence from Iraq is a slim one. We essentially pulled the rug out form under the Iraqi people, despite the fact that Saddam was truly evil. We should never have gone in, but now that we’ve turned the whole country (theirs and ours, I might add) on its ear, it would be immoral to simply leave. I think deep down all the candidates and most Americans feel the same. It’s truly a lose-lose situation.
Courtney, South Windsor, CT

obama,it’s gonna take dialogue with iraq’s neighbors,to begin pulling out our troops.most of them would like to see us leave,anyway.let them take responsibility for keeping the peace.we had no business occupying iraq,after WINNING the war!except,of course,oil business for bush,and reconstructuring business for cheney.obama will get us out responsibly and safely.

I believe it’s likely that a Deomcratic president will pull the troops out on a time table taking 12 to 18 months. If McCain is elected, he will likely continue the Bush agenda of draw down / increase, draw down / increase ad nauseum

Jack: I think it will be very likely that the next President willl cause and effect acton for the reduction of troops in Iraq. He must be prepared to be part of the cure and not remain part of the problem. There is always a way, if he looks hard enough for it.

Of course, Hillary Clinton will Jack.

I think either Hillary or Barack will pull our troops out, Jack, but it won’t an overnight process.

I believe as long as our Democratic president lets the public know this (and tell them why), Americans will give them a fair chance to bring this Chicken Hawk led nightmare to an end.

Jack: It is very likely that the next President will cause and effect action for a troop reduction in Iraq. He must be prepared to be part of the cure and not remain part of the problem. There is always a solution if you look hard enough for it.

They will pull some of the troops out but not all. Most likely what is going to happen is it will take the next president two terms to correct the matter, but that is if they are willing to force the change on the Iraqi’s seeing President Bush does not know how to run a military operation or this country for that matter. So Clinton and Obama have alot of thinking to do about the matter because no one wants anymore of the Republican mess that we have now so McCain is a non issue as far as winning. It is a serious time for change!

It’s not going to happen. The department of Defense is using this to fund every project on their wish list, retiring officers are using it to secure their second career with companies that support the war, retiring enlisted personnel are getting jobs with companies like Blackwater that pay really well, and the military industrial complex and oil companies are making record profits. It is the American dream for anyone who profits from war. They would never let this war end and disrupt their flow of money. In reality, they are the ones running this country.

Nobody can end the centuries of bloodsheed between religious extremists in the middle east except the religious extremists themselves.

However, our United States leaders can end our involvment in it anytime they want. Perhaps if they ever decide what “Victory in Iraq” means, they will be able to achieve it.

If McCain is president,the troops are staying for 100 years or the end of the world,whichever comes first. If Hillary is president there will be some withdrawal initially with gradual withdrawal afterward. Obama will attempt a massive Vietnam withdrawal,but will find that that will be a huge mistake. So,pulling troops out will depend on who you vote for. Think very thoughtfully and deeply and the mark your ballot. Good luck!

McCain - hardly likely Jack.

The democrats, once we get rid of this “stay the course” regime, I do believe there will be accountability and much shorter benchmarks. Iraq is well aware our current Administration has no intention of pulling many, if any troops before their term expires, which gives Iraq no incentive to look at benchmarks, let alone try to meet them.

New president, new rules, shortened benchmarks and strict accountability - now there’s a plan.

If it’s a Democrat very likely. If it’s John McCain, it’s not going to happen since McCain has said he will keep American troops in Iraq for an hundred years and continue the failed policies of George W. Bush.

I think it will happen in the next presidency but it will be a slower process than they want the people to believe AND no matter how they do it, not everyone will agree with the way they do it. Also, there is no perfect way to do it and no matter what, I think Iraq will be a bit chaotic for a long time after the US military leaves.

None of the democratic candidates will deliver on their promise on Iraq the way the say it, unless the situation in Iraq improves. Implementation of the troops pull out will be much different that the politica promises they make now. But everything changes in life so what is happening in next 7-8 months will decide how it will be implemented.

Nuwan from Houston, TX

Not likely Jack. Because they have so much control over the price of oil, the Saudis have their hands around the throat of our american economy. If we leave Iraq in the hands of the majority Shiite muslims the Saudis would be looking at another Iran-like threat on their border and would punish us severely. Clinton and Obama are both going to get an education if either wins the white house.

If they do it will take forever, meanwhile we lose more Americans as well as dollars and reputation This is the worst of times, thank you Mr. Bush….glad you have all your money still…. you can brag about your daughters big wedding bash while some of us cant pay our rent

It is quite likely that whoever is elected president will pull our troops out of Iraq. Sooner or later the American people are going to insist, and when they do whoever’s head it is that is keeping troops there is going to roll. After that dog and pony show put on by Petraeus and the stuttering, uh uh er er uh and uh stammering uh uh er asinine twit of a bush lackey inept uh uh er “you have to uh uh er understand uh er uh uh it is uh uh very uh er er difficult” spouting worthless piece of . . . . of an “ambassador” , one cannot believe that the American people have not already insisted.

I know this may sound a little rainbows and unicorns but I believe in the words of John Lennon:

War Is Over, If You Want It

Regardless of who is the next Presdient, if the American people rise up together and say, “No More” Washington will have no choice but to end military action in Iraq. A Democrat may be more eager to withdraw the soldiers, but it was the Republicans (Nixon, Ford and Kissinger) who finally ended the war in Vietnam and brought the soldiers home.

No outsiders can end it. At some point the Iraqis will tire of their sectarian killing (we hope!) and end it themselves. Or perhaps worse, Iran might step in and end it by installing a theocracy. This is the worst way, and the US should have thought about this before we toppled Saddam; he was not a choirboy but we might look back on his regime one day and realize it was better than what Iraq will probably get now.

hi jack
well it wont be McCain,hes another Bush,but Obama will get us out safe and get everyone else around the country to help us keep peace.Hillary will pull us out to quick and we will be back before the year is out.

clearwater fl is for Obama all the way to the white house

All of our troops will not be out of Iraq in the next four years, no matter which party is in power. It is almost certain however, that a Democrat would begin the process of bringing them home.

Not very likely. Whoever it is will either want to stay for rest of the century or will soon discover that Bush has broken the country so badly that we will never be able to withdraw. That’s because we will probably have to spend the rest of the century just picking up the pieces.

Jack
Give the order to have the troops out of there ASAP. We did it in Vietnam, this war is no different. Leave this country to the people of Iraq, let them solve their own religious issues.

If either of the Democrats gets elected to the White House that person will have to pull out “some” of the troops if they expect any chance at all of getting re-elected in another four years. We’ll see.

But your title reads “Can anyone end the war in Iraq?” The question is “which war?” Is it the war to keep radicals from destroying that country, the war between the Shias and Sunni’s, the war between the Shias and Shias, the war between the US and Iran, the war between …..ad infinitum. The simple and horrible answer is “no.”

Our elected leaders are suppose to figure that out before they put us into a situation like this. Too bad they didn’t.

If the next president is a Democrat, troops will begin to withdraw almost immediately. Both candidates know the one thing that makes Iraq a hornet’s nest is the presence of U.S. occupiers. An extended presence or the inclusion of Iran into the mix will only make matters worse. We’re running out of both warm bodies and money and there is no other option for the next president than to get out of Iraq. Senator McCain’s “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” tells you where the Republicans stand on this.

Yes, Jack, someone will end this war, but only if a democrat gets elected president of the United States. And then he or she can’t even begin to do anything until January of this year. If McCain wins the presidency, we will, of course, be there for the next 100 years!

Of course, the USA might go bankrupt before we leave Iraq. Then China will have to step in and repossess our country, and maybe they can get us out of Iraq.

Jack, it’s sad, bleak, dark, frightening times for what was once the greatest nation on earth. Say a prayer for it before it’s gone for good.

If I didn’t believe that the Democrats would pull them out, I would be voting for McCain–at least I know he won’t torture the prisoners of war.

Once President Obama gets into office, reality will hit and nothing will be as easy as he would like it to be. That said, he will make it happen. With the support of the military, he will have the troops home as quickly and safely (for us) as possible.

Nothing will end the violence there, however. Nothing but another ruler who rules with an iron hand. There are too many factions who will never be able to resolve their differences willingly.

It’s a matter of how badly the American people want out.

It’s not going to be easy, pretty or nice to pull out of this mess. But in my opinion it’s worth it.

When the stuff starts hitting the fan as we pull out the same two thirds of the American public that are against the war now are just going to need to remember that.

With McCain, there would be no chance of this war ending. I believe President Obama will work diplomatically with nations in the region and with our military leaders and with our best foreign policy experts to get us out of Iraq. There first has to be the “will” to end the war (McCain doesn’t have it) then the way will be found.

The Iraqi government, at present, has no incentive or deadlines and they are sitting on a pile of oil money while our soldiers are killed and wounded and our money goes to their nation instead of our own. It has to end. Our present situation is exactly what Osama bin Laden wanted.

The next President has to end the war. They may not do it in 12 months or 16 months, but they must end the war. We cannot afford to keep paying the Iraqi’s salaries while this country is going down the tubes. This whole senario is outrageous and it is time to bring our troops home in a safe and methodical manner. A vote for McCain will be the same old stuff we been hearing from Bush. Bush doesn’t know how to clean up this mess, so it is just going to be left to the next President. McCain doesn’t know how to end it either so it will be easier for him to stay the course too.

Te currednt level of troops in iraq is not sustainable for much more time, by the end of the year there will have to be a reduction. We will probably have to leave a fair sized strike force in either iraq or possibly kuwait, backed by overwhelming air support, almost like we had after desert storm before Shrub screwed things up so bad. The european troops should be pulled back to the states so they could go into the mid east rotation. Besides, imagine what it would do to the economies of military communities if there were influxes of thousands of troops and their families into the local housing and shopping markets. These troops are not needed to support europe.

I think it’s likely a deomocratic president will try, whether they will succeed is another story. Bush has made such a huge mess of Iraq, I don’t know if we can ever get out completely. One thing is for sure though, the Iraq government will not start doing things for themselves if they continue to think big brother U.S. will always be there to take over for them when things get too tough. By the way Jack, if the Iraq government doesn’t want to pay us back all of the millions they owe, don’t you think they could at least discount oil for us as a start?

It will be political suicide for any Democrate to reverse what they have campaigned against - the war in Iraq. Iraq does not have a strong leader, regardless of what President Bush says about him. A President Obama or a President Clinton will remove the troops, however gradually. It makes sense to protect the troops during a withdrawal, but the Iraquis are not proving that they have any taste for conflict without US involvement and that means US Troop deaths and dismemberment. The Iraqui Army will not be ready in 20 years because they do have the intestinal fortitude to go the extra mile. Bottom line is, the troops will come home to the USA. The sooner the better!

The chances are very unlikely because only Washington insiders are running. Powerful special interests such as Haliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, and the military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned against are making billions from the war and Congress is in their pockets.

Elect a Democrat and the war will end. Matter of fact Elect Obama and the war will end because Hilary lies so much you never know what in her campaign is serious about!

There was an opportunity to end this war it would have required the Congress to start impeachment against the president. This is what ended Vietnam. When the President is worried about himself the troops come home. Time to pack up our gear and leave it really isn’t all that difficult.

Obama will do it Jack!

He unlike McCain or Hillary who wanted and supported war will end it, Jack!

The Dunfey family brought Catholics and Protestants together in Ireland to end 700 years of killing. Maybe taking on the 1400 years of Sunni/Shia killing is something they’d tackle. If that fails, God might have a try. After that all we have is Super Hillary.

The answer is obvious, John McCain will keep our troops “standing up” for the next 100 years, a Democrat will give the Iraq’s a time table for them to decide whether THEY will “stand up” or “lay down, roll over and die” and be left with something worse than Sadam. The choice is theirs……..people get the kind of government they deserve….

That all depends of IF Iran gets THE BOMB sooner rather that later, then it’s out of his or her hands.
Iraq is what it is, and when we leave it will be what ever the Iraqis make it.

Barack Obama Will end the war in Iraq, Bring Green jobs to the American People and will fight for healthcare.

I am a Taxpayer and I approve this message.

“Yes,” John McCain can end the war…he could in a hundred years anyway…of course you have to factor in John’s ability to live that long. That aside he could do it.

Jerry Wilson

100%

Since only the Iraqis can end the religion-fueled destruction of the former Iraqi state, who we elect will ultimately have little more effect on the current war. Economic concerns will bring our involvement to a shuddering gasping halt and the next president will eventually order our military to extract itself in the most expedient and orderly fashion, returning home with all their equipment. That is what will take place if he military is consulted and allowed to manage their own return. If the extreme left is allowed to intefere, we’ll abandon most of our hardware as we did in VietNam and ultimately lose more troops than if the left is ignored.

Jack,
I’m willing to risk those chances if either one of the Democratic Candidates become President. At least they are both talking about moving the troops out which is better than the “John McBush 100 Year Plan”.

Jack, troops in Iraq are going to be like weeds. You can pull them out, but never completely get rid of them.

Very likely. I have absolute confidence that Obama will bring back the troops because his plan is convincing. Impress upon the Iraqi’s that they have to take responsibility for their country, that Americans are no longer going to be killed for the irrational tribal intolerance of the Iraqis and set a time table. Clinton perhaps may bring them home but she is hard to decipher. McCain has said he will not bring them home and I believe him. I continue to empathize with our troops in Iraq but fail to see why they should be in Iraq beyond today. I acknowledge that but for Bush this would not be an issue. Yet it is imperative that unless someone tells the Iraqis in unambiguous language that they must buckle up and take charge of their country, they will remain largely Sunnis, Shittes or Kurds not Iraqis. The only imaginable way the troops can be back before the next elections is to elect a democrat.

Jack, its time for a real reality check. As I view the film of the Iraqi army fight in Bastra the only one willing to fight were the Americans. We are going to have to sit down and look at all the lies. Were here to set up a democratic government, Jack that is a no win war. 2 choices are left pull out and let them settle the differences or commit for the next 20 years. I am sure most of us will never put Iraq or Iran on our places to visit.

Very likely. But not a quickly as the American people might hope for. There has been much talk about a pull-out strategy. This needs to be a hot topic in the general election.

Only the soldier can end this war. I know the answer I give is not the 1 anyone can understand. But, only Gen. Petraeus can stop this war & until he gets the guts to tell BushCo enough is enough those men & women will continue to die.

For the democrats it is a true Catch 22. To me as much as I want us to leave Iraq, it isn’t going to be possible until the Iraqi people kick us out and want to take control of their own country in a peaceful manner. We are the “peacemakers” of the world but we can’t even do that in our own country.

Nancy Pelosi could have, month’s ago, if she’d only had the starch.

Ray Kinserlow
Lubbock, Texas

Not likely. We are in a war that we can not win or get out soon. If anyone could not predict that war with Iraq would be the top priority with this Administration was not paying attention. What was the “Axis of evil” all about? Plain and simple to clear the Bush name for not getting Saddam in the first Iraq war. Even Bush I was against going into Iraq, sonny should have listened to dad.

Not only are we confused about what to do in Iraq, we don’t even know how to ask the question. Pull US troops out of Iraq? Whoever the next president is most likely he/she will pull SOME troops out. The real question is how many, how fast and for how long the remaining troops will be in harm’s way on a daily basis.

I expect an intelligent dialogue along the lines of withdrawal from our next president. I hope that some of the Iraqi oil money will soon be used to defray the cost of this fiasco, and yes, I do expect that a democratic president will withdraw a large number of troops over a reasonable amount of time.

It would be nice to end the war. We had the 100 years war, and McCain thinks this might be headed for a new record.

What really concerns me to end US involvement. If we leave, I think the Iraqui factions will settle - until the xext time.

obama will end this war, because of all the candidates he gets it! there isnt a military solution in iraq, its political one, and until we learn to talk to our enemies like iran, there will be no success in iraq!

It is likely once the new President realizes Iraq is just an exchange of Iraq lives for American (soldier) lives. If the President cares about killing Americans, we’ll be out of Iraq, if the President doesn’t care we will stay in Iraq.

Pretty good - If Michelle dosen’t talk about not being proud of the US, Rev Wriight is forgotten, and Obama’s lobbyists keep out of Canada.

Hillary or Barrack will end the war on a time scale. McCain will cotinue indefinitely we win. Winning is not in sight..
CA

Jack, It has become very clear from General Petraeus’ report to Congress this week, that no one whether it be McCain, Clinton or Obama, will be able to bring home any troops anytime soon. The “still fragile” gains made by our troops would be taken away in an instant if it were not for the presence of U.S. troops. The instability created by our invasion of Iraq both economically, politically and militarily will only create a civil war when we leave. The plain truth is we have created a mess that will have to be dealt with for a long time to come.

Robert
Forest, VA

Jack:

This war started over a thousand years ago. No country on earth will ever end it. The United States tend to become to involved in the affairs of other nations when we have problems here on our own soil. I thought it was a waste of time and money to go to Iraq and I still do. I think used it for photo opportunities and “GRANDSTANDING” . He does not care about this nation. What he cares about is lining his pockets with money from the middle east oil. Oil and money is the only reason our troops were sent to Iraq. I think any politician including our president should be ashamed of this. It is deplorable.

Ron K. San Diego

Whichever candidate inherits this mess, if they don’t get us out of it
promptly they can only expect one term in office. The state of our
economy is directly tied to this money sink and 4 years of recession or
more likely depression will not sit well with the American people.
But in my view McCain won’t care about re-election and will stay there
irrespective of how it damages the country. Hillary is as reliable as
the long term weather forecast, so counting on her to do whatever she
says now is a bad bet at best.
Help us Obi Wan Barrack you’re our only hope.

the Democrats, hopefully Obama. McCain is Bush all over again. Since this conflict cannot be ‘WON’ militarilary, the Iraq people must decide to take care of themselves. It really doesn’t matter if we stay or leave–they will continue to fight each other. So be it! We have given them 6 years to step up to the plate. Our country is so worried about losing that oil. As Obama said yesterday while doing some questioning, we need some real solutions about what is ‘winning’. And the ambassidor and Petracaus are only Bush yes men. So of course they are going to make sure they give the appropriate Bush answers. It comes down to how much more American tax dollars and American lives are going to be lost? I am beginning to think we should go back to being ‘Isolationists”! Let’s take care of our people first!

Beats me Jack, but if we think gas is high now, just wait until we pull out and see what it goes to! We’re going to be blamed for everything that follows! Any war between the people will be our fault, even though the countries in the middle have been fighting for a thousand years. Although I would love to see this oil war come to an end, pulling out when Bush has gotten us this deep would be another tragedy……Not to mention that a vast majority of the world see us as “occupiers”……which is true! Its a “no-win” situation for America!

I don’t think any canidate can walk in on day one and just say BAM! IT’S OVER. I do think that plans need to be made to scale back our occupation of Iraq.
Think of it more in the standards of the US Troops that are still stationed in Korea. That war ended what? like 50 years ago. We still have a presence there. But that’s all it is, a presence. Not babysitting the entire country.

Mary - Lincoln, NE

I believe Barack Obama will end the war and withdraw troops as he has promised. He’s the only candidate that seems to understand the deep rooted cultures that are affected by this war. He’s the only candidate willing to sit down with Syrian and Iranian leaders. He’s the only candidate that seems to understand that most people in the region don’t want American values and democracy imposed on them. He’s the only candidate that has been right from the beginning.

Obama will get them out of there. He voted no for the war. It will probably take a couple of years or more but I have faith and confidence that he will get them out of there and then when he does he will be rewarded with another persidental term in the White House because he has done such a good job. He will not be going this alone, as there are so many intelligent people that will be on his staff and will be helping him along the way. I have two boy and the thought that Hilliary voted for the war scares me. I do not want them to go to the army but that will be their choice if they ever decide to go, I just hope that they will not go straight to Iraq after boot camp. I’m am putting my trust in Obama to take care of this.

Shirley, Ohio

It will obviously take a Democrat to end the war. Hilliary misspeaks (lies) too much for me to believe anything that she says. She will say anything and do anything to get elected.

It will end in the same way the Korean War did. For those who don’t know, they are technically still at war, and there is still an American prescence in the region.

We have control of nothing my husband just came back and talks of “OUR SECRET GOVERNMENT”. In Iraq we messed with the begining of time. We are not in control of anything what makes you think we can do anything to fix it once we opened Pandora Box.
`When she did, all of the evils of mankind escaped from the jar, although Pandora was quick enough to close it again and keep one value inside, and that was Hope.
HOPE IS THE ONLY THING WE HAVE LEFT

The American people will end the mess in Irak Jack. Same as Vietnam. When they’re mad as hell and they’ve had enough of words and body bags and Taps. The people will decide and hopefully it will be soon.

Bring the Troops Home.

Jack,

Likely, not sure. Essential - 100% sure. I heard talk on CNN earlier today about a possible DEPRESSION! How much longer can we pump billions of dollars each month into this mess with nothing to show in return? And why can’t congress see this, if I can?

No Jack… No they cannot! I believe that Barack was correct when he said that the war “never should have been authorized, and never should have been waged.” That being said, there are millions of people worldwide who want destroy our way of life, and want nothing more than to see us fail. You can stand on the edge of a bridge and say to yourself, “It might be a bad idea to jump off,” but when you’re on your way down, all you can do is pray for a safe landing. I hope that Barack Obama will see that and at least try to save the Iraqis from their potential doomsday!

Jack, let Jesse Ventura and Dog the Bounty Hunter loose on those bad Iraqi militiamen that should end the war PDQ.

The only way is if the Dem nominee (we know McCain wouldn’t do it) has the cajones to stand up to the American public and do 2 things: First, openly discuss and re-frame the meaning of ‘losing’, ‘failure’, and ’surrender’ in a war which was lost before it began; and second, prepare people for the likelihood that sectarian violence over power and resources will continue after we leave, and that we, as a nation, must decide together which painful cost we’re most willing to bear: the continued debt and draining of our treasury, or the knowledge that there will be more tragedy in Iraq before they can settle their own disputes peacefully.

Without this bully-pulpit groundwork to obtain buy-in from the electorate, the new president will be too politically scared to actually withdraw our forces.

I was in Viet Nam as a combat sniper in 1969. Richard Nixon had talked about ending the war long before our troops came home, (remember peace with honor)? After I returned home I watched as a civilian as our troops shoved helicoptors into the ocean and pushed desperate people out of the way so they could get back to the “world” alive.

There is no good way to walk away from a war that you can’t win. That’s why John McCain wants to stay indefinately. He was in the same war that I was in and should know by now when its time to get out.

Hillary drank the Kool Aid and voted to invade. The only voice of reason belongs to Obama. Its time to come home.

The first President to face the nation and admit that Dudley DoWrong dismantled and destroyed the only form of government that will ever work in Iraq still won’t have a way out. It’s why I’ve been calling it Somali Nam since August of 2002 when most of us saw this coming. The Pottery Barn Rule still applies. Bush broke it, we now own it and can’t pay for it. We’ll be forced to pass the the hats on to our great, great grand children will be forced to pass the bills on down to their great, great grand children until someone finally say’s, “Screw this! Let Iran annex it, we’re done, we’re outta’ here!”

Jack, don’t we have a constitution that says Congress has to approve any money that is spent? That is all they have to do. But we have to get the guts to tell bushy and dicky that the oil belongs to the Iraqs and not to them.But they will have to realize that if they stop the money too soon, bushy will leave the boys over there with nothing. And they better watch him, he is trying to get a contract signed that says we will be over there forever. He is slick.But I am sure he has a lot of company

The Clintons supported the War in Iraq to destroy “weapons of mass destruction” 1998, reaffirmed 2004. Their judgment, like George Bush’s judgment was wrong. Costing thousands of American lives and more than a trillion dollars, the Bush-Clinton Dynasty has ruined our economy. Neither the Bushes nor Clintons have a clue what it’s like to buy gas, finance food and shelter in an economy like this. They may arrogantly claim to have all of the experience in the world. However, if their experience led to such bad judgment, their experience does not amount to a hill of beans ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Because they were so free to spend American lives and money, they should offer treble damages to the veterans’ families. They should offer a full refund to the American taxpayer and then some to the middle class and poor. And, they should accomplish all of this out of their own deep pockets.

Obama was the only one when it was politically inconvenient to tell it like it is. Had we listened to him in the first place, we would not be in the economic mess we are in today.

The war will end when the U.S citizens riseup and voice their disgust for the war and demand that the troops be brought home now. We need some of that Tibetian zeal displayed now in San Francisco. Once the troops are gone Iraq will settle on its own terms.

We are more likely to end global warming than to get our of Iraq in the next presidential term. The unpopular truth is that pulling out before the country is able to run on its own will only cause a power vacuum. We all should remember how well that worked out over in Germany. There is a reason they called it a “world war.”

This reminds me of the old adage about those that ignor history being bound to repeat it.

The more than inconvenient truth is that the Iraq War is a failure. A failure in necessity, justification, and result.

The only exit is to exit as we did from VIetnam.

There is no face saving except for turning over the initiators over to the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Shock and Awe was no different from Blitzkreig. American leaders are not above international law.

It really does not matter whether the next president gets us out of Iraq or not, it will still end in tribal war and genocide. The country is beyond any hope and all we do is pull ourselves down to their level, we can not bring them up to ours as we want to, no one can. Iraq, the people of Iraq in a evolutionary mindset are about 500 years behind us right now, and if we are ot careful that is just hopw long we are going to be there.

Jack, I doubt the Democrats could get them out as quickly as they would like for us to believe. If the United States remains stuck on stupid and elects John McCain, we may as well start mass production of God Bless Our Troops for the next 100 Years bumper stickers now.

Upper Marlboro, MD

Can anyone end the war in Iraq ? Yes, I can.
Put me in the WH for 1 week … I’ll make 3 phone calls …
1 - Gen. Petreus , everybody home NOW
(we’ll have the troop ships standing by off the coast of Kuwait )
2 - Tel Aviv … ” You’re on your own ”
3 - Riyadh … ” See ya”
Ok maybe a 4th - to Halliburton/ Blackwater et al to notify that the public money spigot is henceforth turned off immediately.
Upon completing what needs to be done , I’ll gladly resign and the megolamanics can then return to jockeying for the hot seat by telling everybody they’re going to do everything for us all. I could go on but that’s enough for one week or even one day actually.

Jack,
If Obama or Clinton is elected, the only way to end this fiasco is to tell Maliki we’re leaving in x number of months, whether the Iraqis have a government by then or not. if McBush is elected, it’s a moot point, because we’ll be staying forever. We can declare Iraq the 51st state if he gets elected.

All we need to do is instate a strong sectarian dictator who will bring stability to Iraq probably through strong arm tactics. Oh wait thats what we had before the invasion.

I lost a family member in Iraq in 2004..painful and horrible as that was–Bush told our troops before the war that there would be a real reason for going-not like the gulf of tonkin resolution BASED ON LIES and that David and the other fine military personnel would be given an exit strategy if asked to go. Petreous and crocker yesterday still don’t have one-nobody does.

David did his duty when called and lived by the honor code, now why does’t Bush and Cheny live by the promises they made to the men and women asked to serve over there? “A promise made is a debt unpaid” and I am ashamed to feel in my heart that my president and vp have no honor and David sacraficed for their lies.

It won’t be easy, but Barak will do it.

Likely. To continue this ‘war” is to signal that the will of the citizens of this country are ignored, and insignificant.

And for the past 8 years, that is exactly what has happened.

Government in this country is of the People, by the People and for the People.

Unless you work in the Bush Administration.

It really doesn’t matter who’s president. We, the American people, simply need to stop falling for the same old tired B.S. that the warmongers keep feeding us.

All we need to do is tell our congressmen that we’re sick of the war, and they will stop funding it.

Remember VietNam, when the experts were afraid of the “domino effect”? Well, where has communism spread since then?

All we have to do is “Just Say No!”

I don’t see any president getting us out within their first year. We have made a mess. Regardless of what you think about how we got into this, getting us out will be tricky. We have created a power vaccum just ripe for another strongman or rouge group. They might get together, Sunni, Shia, Kurd, but they have been fighting since Christ was a corporal, literally. My idea, it ain’t popular but, dump another 50-100, 00 troops in, lock the country down and be the occupiers we are, then slowly hand over control. You can’t build a country with all the violence. I oppossed this war from the start and still do. But it is the only way we can leave without a bloodbath when we do.

Jack,

As long as Big Oil, corporate globalization, and AIPAC dominate the interests of our Congress, there will be no end to the Iraq War. It is precisely because of these groups that we are in the war to begin with.

It is also why we will most likely get involved in Iran, as well.

The only people who can end the war are the Iraqi people themselves. At this time, they seem disinclined.

Either Democrat will start the process, but the troops certainly won’t be home immediately. Even if we didn’t care about what happened to Iraq it takes a lot of time just to move that much equipment and personnel while maintaining safety.

The big question will be if the Iraqi government has been so slow to move in spite or our presence, or because of it.

My best hope for getting troops out rests with Obama. Let’s put it this way. The president that doesn’t get them out need not campaign for a second term. We are going to get out in the end. Better now than later. It’s up to Iraq. We did our job.

Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex, yet these monster defense industries still dictate our foreign policy. Without war they don’t make money. There’s only one candidate who doesn’t take money from these people, and that’s Barack Obama. He had the guts to go against the war when he was running for the Senate, and he’ll have the guts to get us out of Iraq, because the only people he owes anything to are the mothers and fathers of soldiers who will vote for him.

John McCain will end the war or put us on the right path. If end means no troops at all in Iraq, I don’t see that from anyone. I believe that there will be American presence there for a long time, just like the US in post Nazi Germany. I really believe that McCain has be better understanding of the war than most people give him credit. Anyone that says McCain is another Bush just isn’t thinking. We McCain said we would be in Iraq for 100 years, he didn’t mean in the same manner we are in Iraq today. My concern with McCain is not the war, its the economy. He needs a good VP. Huckabee I hope!

A Democrat in the White House will greatly reduce our involvement in Iraq AND keep us from going into Iran, as McCain would have us do. This fear of havoc breaking out upon our troop withdrawal is WRONG. Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have already become bedfellows with Nouri al-Maliki and Iran will most assuredly move in to prop up the corrupt Maliki government and maintain the peace should we withdraw. In fact, it will probably be more stable when we bring our troops home as much of the armed aggression that now exists is BECAUSE we are there.

Here’s an idea: pull out and leave the consequences to the Iraqis, which solves nothing for Iraq but stops the bleeding on our side. Then drag the Bush administration into international court following Nuremberg precedent to the letter. Same accusations: invasion, genocide, etc, etc. Same results: “pre-emptive war” doesn’t stick, and “just following orders” doesn’t either. Hang ‘em high, apologize to Iraq and the world. Get on with life.

The only ones who can end this war is Al-Qaeda. They must realize that what they are doing is wrong, and it will be very soon before more people begin to turn against them as many Sunni militias have already. President Bush was wise to send in the additional troops to provide extra security, and I am confident he will take the same steps again if General Petraeus calls for it. If there is any end to the war in Iraq, it will not be an American president doing it.

Jack:
The Iraq solution is pretty easy. Since we have created a democracy there, we simply need a public vote among the iraqies, asking them should we stay or should we go. They will probably ask us to leave, and we can then do so with honor. If they surprise us and ask us to stay, then we have an opening to ask the U.N. and the world for help in “saving” the country.

Jack,

I believe the next president will remove the troops from Iraq, if he or she is a Democrat. My great fear now is that the military is so depleted that we are open to an attack from someplace completely unexpected.

I have a fair and easy plan to get our troops home: Give every adult Iraqi, man and woman, an M-16, 1000 rounds of ammunitions, a dozen hand grenades, and two weeks supply of water and canned food that our troops get. Then we just go home.

If they want to keep fighting among themselves and blow themselves up, it is none of our business. And they will be too occupied to cause us harm here. But I guarantee that once we are gone, and with every Iraqi armed, order will emerge fast.

Jack,

The terrible truth about the war in Iraq is that the cost and losses were under-estimated. The fact that the United States has a history of invading other countries, explicitly Vietnam, should temper our involvements now and in the future. Unfortunately history wasn’t our greatest teacher. The sad fact is, there is no easy way of withdrawing from Iraq and no winning at this point. The turning point will be when we can maifest enough empathy for the brave people serving there to organize an orderly withdrawal.

John McCain never said he wanted to leave troops in harm’s way for 100 years - we’ve had troops in Germany since the end of WW2, and I don’t see any protests to bring them home.

Whether Hillary and all the others in Congress were right to give the president the green light to wage war - or whether Mr. Bush and his administration were right to invade Iraq - we are there and should take responsibility for what we’ve done. The only way to end the war responsibly is to do everything we can do and everything we should do to make sure that when we leave we are not inviting a more horrific reality than the Hussein regime we overthrew.

I think the only one I can count on to do that is John McCain.

Will a democrat end this war? Possibly, Democrats have a history of tragic mistakes and mis-characterization of events. From the mistaken beleif that any casualty in war makes the it a failure to the repeated nonsense of “Bush lied people died” mantra Liberals of all stripes have shown an unwillingness to honestly engage in this debate.

My belief is Obama has the best chance to end the war in the most reasonable fashion. Because remember we’re looking for the most reasonable way out. And he is our best hope to get the return of Habeas Corpus.

Republicans aren’t even going to try. I seriously believe they will next set their sights on invading Iran. At the very least, the Democrats will begin the process. With a democratic controlled house, and a democrat for president, we should be able to get those kids out before the next election.

This country wants and needs a democratic president this time around. Obama is the choice because he will make the necessary changes that are needed to get this turned around going in the right direction. What I don’t understand is last year they said we need more troops because of the increase in violence, and now they are saying keep the troops there because the violence is down. This must be done politically instead of militarily.

The war will go on as long as young men and women are foolish enough to join the military out of a twisted notion of service to the country. When war mongers like McCain say we will stay in Iraq a hundred years, he is not kidding. Without new recruits the war will end fast. I see no problem with getting out now. If they kill each other off I say good ridance. The only good Moslem is a dead Moslem.

If a candidate is not simultaneously talking about withdrawing from Iraq and withdrawing from Korea, Germany, or any of our 700 bases around the world then their rhetoric is simply empty and hypocritical.

McCain and Ron Paul have both been honest in this regard; one saying that we will continue our empire building and the other wanting to return to our non-interventionist roots.

It just might happen if the new President calls on the likes of Joe Biden to broker a political solution among the Iraqi peoples. Senator Biden made the best and most specific suggestions, I’ve heard yet, at the Senate hearings yesterday and even provided facts to back them up. How wonderful it is after what you, Jack, so aptly called the ‘Bush abomination’, to hope that such intellectual thought might be encouraged and valued again in Washington!

Iran cannot be allowed to gain hegemony in the gulf. If it requires a hundred year commitment… then we must….
We face an enemy dedicated to our annihalation. They will not bargain or show mercy. Acting as if the threat is not real will only guarantee our defeat…which means our destruction.

100% likely that, other than McCain, we will get out of Iraq. A quote from Dick Cheney after everyone was mad because we didn’t take Saddam Hussein in 1992, stated it was best we left Iraq because had we marched to Bagdad, there would never be a “way out”. Cheney and Bush KNEW this was gonna happen before it did.

Bush and Cheney never planned for HOW to get out of Iraq nor tried to foresee what scenarios might happen.

It’s time for Iraq to use its own money and begin to rebuild the country and take some kind of pride in themselves. We can’t change a culture that’s been around since Biblical times.

It was a war on terror, not a war against Iraq (except Bush tryiing to finish the job his dad left unfinished). Now it’s a war on Iraq? Not a war on al-Quaida in Afghanistan?

My question to General Petraeus:

Are those former Sunni insurgents and ex-soldiers of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard fighting on our side because they have seen the light and now embrace the ideals of a free and democratic government akin to ours, or because we are paying them?

If they are doing it just for the money, then there’s no reason to trust them, to assume we have won them over, or to think that the Surge is working.

The only way out of the Iraq quagmire is to declare an honorable viictory to save face, and bring our troops home.

Carlos Navarro

JACK WE DID OUR WAR AGAINST THE BRITISH AND THE CIVIL WAR ALSO YES A LOT DIED BUT THEY NEED TO DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR THEM LIKE WE DID LAST TIME I LOOKED BRITAIN WAS OUR BEST FRIEND NOT TO SURE ABOUT THE NORTH IM STILL THINKING ABOUT THEM YANKEES

Hopefully the American people will begin to get angry. Or maybe it will take a DRAFT.

Obama is the only major candidate that could be elected that will result in meaningful troop withdraws. The Iraqis will not stand on their own two feet while they have American troops there. During the American Revolution, the only way our Founding Fathers did what they did is because they were forced to stand on their own two feet, not have another national power, like France, stand over them and assure their safety. The government is coddling the Iraqis like overgrown babies. Time to let them stand or fail. Elect Obama and let’s end this mess started by the most unpopular President in recent memory.

What crack are you somking. If a Dem. gets elected not a dam thing is going to change.

George Bush abomination? That’s an understatement.

The next president can end the war as follows. First you park armor along the highway to the Bagdad airport and safely move all Americans within the airport perimeter. Then you send all but 30,000 personell home. You convert the airport to a huge aid station. You fly in tons of supplies and give it out to any Iraqi who want sit. The catch is, you get finger printed, photo’d, and no repeat customers to prevent black market sales. You give away everything for free…from PC’s, to backhoes, MRI machines to generators..whatever it takes to help the people of IRAQ. This solves several problems. I keeps American GI’s from getting killed and prevents us from getting a black eye as cut and runners. We can easily supply huge amounts of humanitarian aid with what we’ll save in armaments. Lastly, we let the IRAQ’s know that open warfare will not be tolerated. UAV’s will be watching and observed fighting will result in airstrikes without prejudice and regardless of clan affiliation. We can be deadly without a single lost American. Regarding homeland security against terrorists..build a fence across Mexico and Canada 30 feet high and 3 layers deep. Have every 1 mile patrolled by one national guardsman. It can’t be that hard..we did build the transcontinental railroad. Regarding our coastline…park the 100+ Aegis Cruisers and Destroyers we maintain along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

That’s how you stop the war in IRAQ.

We’ll be there until the oil runs out.

Jack, they can’t end it. Unless they really meant it when they say we need to get out!, because there is no such thing as NO we can’t..YES we could get out and let’s see what happens, and we’ll deal with it then.

Regardless of who becomes President, there is no way out of this mess created by W. and his cronies. It continues to amaze me that the average American doesn’t realize this. We still have a few months left. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get on a fast track to impeachment, before it’s too late? At least then Congress could accomplish one positive thing during this administration…Fat chance.

West Palm Beach, FL

McCain - absolutely not. It’s more likely that we start yet another war with McCain as president.

Dems - The party took control in 2006 to to just that, and they haven’t done anything. Of course the probability of ending the war is higher (just slightly)with a democrat president, but troops will remain……for a long, long time.

In fact, the only candidate still running that vows to end the war is Ron Paul. As much as I admire the man, he’s obviously not going to win the republican endorsement and has said repeatedly that he will not go third party (wish he would). If you want an end to the war, Ron Paul is the only candidate that will make it happen.

Trying to impose a yankee doodle democracy in any Mideastern state is like taping a fish to bicycle. You can do it for a while but how well will it work and what will the attempt accomplish? There is a bloodbath going on now and it will continue until the next dictator wins and sets up shop. The only difference is whether our troops will continue to be caught in the middle and once in power, will he be our friend (on our payroll) or our enemy? Most likely he’ll be working both ends from the middle, just as before.

that’s why i voted for Ron Paul….pull out the troops EVERYWHERE and STOP getting in peoples business to prevent future wars. We funded the same people in the 80’s we are fighting now. It’s time for non-interventionism (note…not isolationism). We have 600,000 troops in 130 countries. We spend $1 trillion annually OVERSEAS to maintain this empire. BRING THEM HOME NOW.

I believe that if we withdraw the troops, the war will follow us home.
Think about it, there has NOT been an attack on home soil since the war started… This will change if we leave iraq.

Vote McCain.

The answer to the quesiton is-no- no one can end the war. It’s been going on for hundreds of years.
Can someone stop the U’S’ involvment? Yes.
Anyone with a big plane and a few ships to bring our troops and equipment home. Consider it just like moving a home or business.
Set a date, pack and leave. Just like we went in.

I agree with Obama in starting discussion with Iraq’s neighbors. I think in starting a discussion we would be better able to leave Iraq. However I do not think that the U.S. will be able to pull out of Iraq regardless of who becomes the President. It’s one thing to talk about it on the campaign trail, but when you’re sitting in the hot seat and realize the regional and global implications of a preemptive withdraw I think reality will set in. The U.S. will be in Iraq for a long while in one form or another. I feel sorry for whoever wins the White House, because there is no win/win situation with Iraq.

I don’t think it is likely or practical for any of the candidates to get all the troops out. In reality, that is the wrong question. The question should be how do we help Iraq become a safe and economically viable country so troops aren’t necessary. There aren’t any easy answers to that and it’s very likely it is not possible in our lifetime. But, given the leadership failure of the last 50 years - to end our dependence on fossil fuels - we cannot just walk away because we are critically dependent on that region of the world.

They say there is no more dangerous animal on the face of the earth than a human being with nothing to lose. We see a lot of those types of human beings in Iraq. The key in changing Iraq is to get the money from the oil to the people. Radicals don’t appeal to people with full stomachs and safe places to live - as Maslow correctly pointed out so many years ago.

We may not like this , but it may eb inevitable. The key to end this war and bring our troops back home safely and with honor is to mend our relationship with Iran. It is true that the current ruling powers in Iran may be detestable and are not worth building lasting relationship. But think of the larger picture and the demographics of Iran where a generaous majority population is young and (internally) pro-western. Building bridges with the younger Iranian population and winning their minds is the key. Get iran in place and with their help, get Iraq in shape. And then get our troops back with enough checks in place. This is is the way, we can have lasting prescence in middle east.

We are called immoral when we want to leave , while Iraq hoards its treasure and hides from the fight. Why dont we do SOMETHING for this country for a change and quit trying to be politicially correct. The world will hates us no less for staying.

Anyone but BUSH!

All that voted for Bush are responsible for this war. The blood is on your hands.

End the war! They will all be too afraid. No matter who ends the war, they know they won’t be able to come out of it looking good. They will start to pull out troops in the third year of their first term so that it looks like they are doing something when they come up for re-election. That will be the real motivation - not saving lives or dollars and sense (that is not a typo).

We need to pull the troops out and let the congress take their place.

You have taken Sen. McCain’s “100 years” quote out of context - just like Obama and Hil have done repeatedly - and when read in its proper context, he suggests nothing of the sort (by presence he meant along the same lines as we have now in Korea, Japan, etc). An immediate withdrawl from Iraq is not only careless, but ignores the real chance that WE WILL BE BACK but in a humanitarian mission when sectarian bloodshed turns the streets red. Or maybe we can ignore it liked we’ve done in Darfur? Regardless of whether you were “for” the war, “against” the war or “for it before you were against it” - the reality is we MUST stay a finish the job we started. If you listened at all to what Petraeus has said (it’s obvious the Dems have not), “we have our teeth into the jugular, and we need to keep it there” - why would we allow Iraq to turn into the former Afghanistan - a breeding ground for terrorists? The cost of blood and treasure for this war has been high but why must the Anti crowd feel that this war MUST be a failure for the U.S. on all fronts???? Freedom is never free, afterall.

Well, you’ve got 2 pretty bad options.

1) you can leave Iraq, let it fall apart, and enjoy a re-energized wave of anti-Americanism flare up, terrorism and all.

2) you can ’stay the course’ and hope Iraqis pick themselves up so that at some point they don’t need US military assistance.

I hear the whole ‘let the Iraqis fend for themselves’ speech and that’s all fine and dandy. But who’ll get the blame when that country falls apart, who will everybody in the Middle East rally against, and how much will all that empower bib Laden et al? Timetables are nice, but to be brutally honest, the bloodshed of remain in Iraq pales to that which the US will face if it pulls out without stabilizing the country. Not that the instant-gratification society will accept that.

The huge number of dead and wounded servemen and women from America is made ten times as sad as they have all met their sad fate in a foriegn country’s not so civil war. What makes it even worse is the fact that they were able and competent people, they would not have been allowed toserve or be recruited by the American military if they were not.
Just think of what the 4024 killed and 29,211 wounded have done had they never even been sent there, they certainly could have fixed a helluva lot of problems that America currently faces.
Frank in Sarasota.

Jack,

It is much more likely that the next president will withdraw the troops than that you or the rest of the Democrats will grow guts or a backbone. If we had this kind of whining in the US during World War II we would be speaking German right now. Sure the deaths are bad, but there was a whole lot more US deaths during WWII. I just hope all the bad countries of the world lose their backbones too or we will be speaking a different language before the century is done. I didn’t agree with invading Iraq either, but we’re there now, let’s finish the job properly instead of pursuing the dumb-ass cut and run approach.

If Hillary doesn’t win the nomination for the party, she will make sure that Obama is ambushed so he can’t win the election. So, we will still end up with McCain and the war and then Hillary will run again in 2012 with her assurance she will get us out again. She knows that with this mess as it is, none will be able to get out in short fashion and Hillary needs a platform to run on in the future.

It is somewhat unlikely, but having a president who is determined to withdraw troops certainly beats one that is intent on keeping them there indefinitely. As Obama suggested, significant reduction in troop levels in Iraq might be possible if the US is willing to set the bar for “success in iraq” a little lower. Otherwise, the cost of this war could accelerate the demise of this [once] great nation.

The only way to win a war is to destroy your enemy. When we win we will pull out.

All of the candidates could end the war quickly. The real question is what is each candidate willing to live with after the US is gone. Are they willing to live with continued sectarian violence and perhaps genocide in Iraq as long as US troops aren’t there? Are they willing to live with an Iran who is the regional power?

Those are the true questions.

Jack,

There is only one candidate who has promised to do it: Ron Paul. He is the only one who has the guts to do it. Forget about Hillary and Obama. They are part of the problem, along with McCain. If you want this to end then you need to vote Ron Paul!

Sadly, about as likely as them doing anything productive towards ending the “war of attrition” that regular AMERICANS are facing, due to this economical, financial, political mess that has gone unchecked (from both “sides”) for far too long. Wake up people, for it is “A Brave New World” here in “1984″. Maybe when they finish tearing this country apart, they’ll build it back, like my tax dollars are doing in Iraq.

I don’t believe any candid