Larry H. Mason – 2/8/05

This page was last updated on February 8, 2005.

When will troops leave Iraq?; Larry H. Mason; Beaver County Times; February 8, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Americans deserve and should insist on an answer or at least an honest attempt at an answer: When will American troops be out of Iraq?

“When enough Iraqi soldiers are trained to secure Iraq is the same deceitful answer over and over again.”

“How many Iraqi soldiers need to be trained? How long does it take to train one? How many are in training?

“The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Anything else is a clever lie.”

[RWC] I’ve never heard the “when enough Iraqi soldiers are trained to secure Iraq” answer before. I’ve always heard we’ll leave when we’ve won. In any case, here is what President Bush said in his 2005 State of the Union address. “We will not set an artificial timetable for leaving Iraq, because that would embolden the terrorists and make them believe they can wait us out. We are in Iraq to achieve a result: A country that is democratic, representative of all its people, at peace with its neighbors, and able to defend itself. And when that result is achieved, our men and women serving in Iraq will return home with the honor they have earned.”

“Some American troops will likely always be in Iraq.”

[RWC] That could be true, but I hope not. That said, we still have troops in Bosnia, Germany, Japan, Kosovo, and South Korea.