Marines patrol in the town of Garmser in Helmand Province of Afghanistan. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
President Bush is thinking about speeding up the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq starting in September.
Reports say no decision has been made yet, but anywhere from 1 to 3 of the 15 combat brigades now in Iraq could be withdrawn by the time Mr. Bush leaves office in January. That would leave between 120,000 and 130,000 troops in Iraq, down from a peak of 170,000 last year.
One reason for an accelerated withdrawal is because more U.S. troops are needed in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been making a comeback. Yesterday, 9 U.S. troops died in an insurgent attack there – the deadliest for U.S. troops in 3 years. In the last two months, more American and allied troops have died in Afghanistan than in Iraq.
The White House says that although the president hopes to bring more troops home, he will wait to hear what General David Petraeus says in September. If President Bush decides to announce troop reductions, it could impact the presidential race. John McCain could say that the surge, which he was in favor of, worked, and therefore troops can now be withdrawn.
On the other hand, Barack Obama has been against the Iraq war from the outset and has said he would immediately look at getting our troops out of Iraq if he's elected. Obama has said the war in Afghanistan has suffered because of the administration's misguided policies in Iraq. He says he would be in favor of deploying up to 10,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
Here’s my question to you: Would faster troop withdrawal from Iraq help John McCain or Barack Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Lynda from North Carolina writes:
Pulling a large amount of troops out of Iraq before November would help McCain for sure. Right now, many people (including me) are voting for Obama purely because he is against the war. If I see that the war has an end in sight, even with McCain, I will look to other issues and McCain might just have a chance to get my vote.
Pablo from Arlington, Texas writes:
Jack, Damned if I know, or care for that matter. As long as it helps the troops, I'm for it!
Kent from Illinois writes:
Pulling the troops out of a war that has no set mission helps Obama. Obama has said time and again that troops need to be in Afghanistan. Guess what? Now we are gonna send them to Afghanistan.
Marty from Idaho writes:
It will help America and both candidates should be satisfied with that.
Michael from Lorton, Virginia writes:
Jack, It would probably benefit Obama, since he opposed the war from the beginning. The Iraqi government wants the U.S. out of Iraq. And we should comply.
Tim writes:
John McCain clearly should benefit from the improved situation in Iraq. The surge worked. It has given the Iraqi people hope, kept the terrorists off-guard and provided a path to victory for the U.S. and its military.
Lisa writes:
The heck with Obama and McCain! Let's worry about it helping the American military, not the election. Bring our soldiers home.
Andy writes:
War? What war? It's the economy, stupid!