Will the US ever decide to remove troops? Maybe not

General John Abizaid spoke earlier in the week concerning the proposed troop removal from Iraq. With the surge of the Democratic Party into the Senate and House resulting from the November election, many predict that the war in Iraq will begin to end. The first step in this procedure would be to remove significant numbers of troops from overseas. Abizaid instead calls for an increase in the number of troops. He feels that to remove the troops at this time would have a disastrous effect on the violence in Baghdad. He sees the benefit of strengthening the military force to cover the spots where they are thin rather than condensing the army as they move out.

Another controversial war also provoked similar thinking. U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1964. During Lyndon Johnson’s presidency in the mid-1960’s, the number of troops in Vietnam rose sharply. Johnson was intent on escalating the number of soldiers because he wanted to stop the spread of Communism. The American people saw that there was no way that they could win. As in Iraq, the Vietnam War was not accomplishing any good. It was considered a waste of human lives as well as resources. Still, Johnson implemented the draft, further creating opposition to the war. As a result of the intense controversy in America over the war, Johnson lost the support of the American people and the Democratic party. This, along with the assassination of the only other viable Democratic presidential candidate, led to a handy victory for the Republican party in the next election. When Nixon became president, he worked to try to hand over the fighting to the Vietnamese.

While those in favor of the war and those opposed to it continue to point out faults in the other, the fact of the matter is that Americans are dying daily.