To Stay or Not to Stay
by Andrew Trent
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Barak Obama: Young, idealistic, and an oratorical wordsmith whose liberal politics alienate many of his right-wing contemporaries. John McCain: A seventy-one-year-old war hero whose brash personality and hot-tempered rhetoric sends a cold shiver down the spines of many a democrat. Of course, one of the many issues they disagree upon concerns the controversial fire storm in the Middle East that has been raging for over five years: the war in Iraq.

After an eight-year administration that has seen a catastrophic attack on American soil perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists, two foreign wars that have claimed the lives of over 4,000 American service men and women, controversial counter-terrorism measures, and a faltering economy, many Democrats and Republicans alike are ready for “change that they can believe in.” However, will any amount of “change” make our nation safer? Will pulling out of Iraq deliver us from the hands of those who view America as the “Great Satan?”

In the interests of political objectivity, both Barak Obama and John McCain are to be applauded and criticized at the same time. Obama is to be applauded for his view that the “fight should be taken to Al-Queda,” that our attention should be focused solely on terrorist groups directly responsible for the September 11th attacks on U.S. soil. His is a policy which vies for the unilateral elimination of dyed-in-the-wool religious fanatics, rather than a preemptive strike on countries that “appear” to be amassing stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. On the other hand, Obama and his coterie of democrats fail to understand that the question of whether Operation Iraqi Freedom was right or wrong is now beside the point, that Al-Queda now resides in Iraq and that it is the mission of U.S. troops to see to its demise, regardless of how long it takes. Likewise, John McCain is to be applauded for upholding a staunch foreign policy in Iraq that asserts a continued U.S. military presence in an unstable region, yet he is to be criticized for upholding the reckless policies that got us into Iraq in the first place.

Whatever point of view one takes, whatever political affiliations one upholds, the fact of the matter is that we, as a nation, are still at war. Pulling troops out of Iraq would be disastrous, not only for Iraq, but for the regions surrounding it, as well as for the continued safety of American soil. We have asserted our presence in a region wherein large pockets of anti-American sentiment thrive, unleashing the fanatic passions of contesting groups who not only will destroy themselves through relentless civil wars, but who will also work to combat the free world with every means at their disposal. The democratic parties’ goal to withdraw troops from Iraq stands as the complete reversal of the American way: It behooves us to finish what we so brazenly got ourselves into in the first place. To do otherwise would be just as reckless and foolhardy as the policies which gave rise to the conflict. The “rightness” or “wrongness” of preemptive military action is but little consequence in the face of the chaos that would ensue following a complete withdrawal.

As the most powerful nation in the free world, it is our responsibility to stabilize Iraq and ensure that the insurgency is broken. If we fail, than pockets of religious fundamentalists will be allowed to flourish, threatening both the stability of the Middle East and the democratic values which we cherish. Without advocating any bias associated with political affiliation, it is safe to say that John McCain stands as the most competent leader for our nation.