[Townhall] After the longest war in the history of our country, it is time for our troops to return home. In 2001, the United States responded to the horrific terrorist attacks of 9/11 by sending our military to Afghanistan on a mission to destroy Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. We were successful in destroying their terrorist camps, killing and capturing Al-Qaeda leaders, and forcing Bin Laden out of the country.
Amazingly, our military is still in Afghanistan, although the Taliban control over half of the country. Of course, President Trump and his supporters want to bring these troops home, but he is facing enormous resistance within the government, including the Defense Department.
During the war in Afghanistan, the administration of President George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein from power. It was believed that he harbored weapons of mass destruction; however, none were ever discovered.
| Not true. We had contemporaneous reports and personal witness here at Rantburg of troops harmed by huge storage bunkers full of leaking barrels of insecticides, far, far beyond the needs of the farmers and gardeners in Iraq over many years. There was the nuclear thingy, buried under that researcher’s rosebushes, waiting to be put back to work, and of course other bunkers full of barrels of yellowcake, waiting to be refined. Not to mention whatever it was that was burnt in the canals for weeks before the 2003 invasion, and the endless convoy going back and forth tio the Bekaa Valley, followed by one of Saddam Hussein’s dutiful daughters and family going into exile. It wasn’t just Daddy’s gold she was hiding for him. But the New York Times, et al, had their narrative, and President Bush’s team lacked Donald Trump’s gleeful combativeness and Twitter account. |
Eventually, Hussein was captured and executed, and, fortunately, Bin Laden was also killed in Pakistan in 2011 after a daring Navy Seal Team 6 mission.
After many twists and turns in Iraq, the terrorist group ISIS was largely destroyed, the country was stabilized, and most of our military forces departed. Today, the United States maintains 5,000 troops in the country.
While some military presence in the region is worthwhile to monitor terrorist strongholds, it does not have the same type of importance for our economy. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, this region of the world was incredibly important to our economy. Today, while it is still critical to Europe and other areas of the world, it is not as vital to the United States. Fortunately, our country does not "need" their oil, we are energy independent for the first time in many decades.
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