In 2016 I will vote for whomever promises to get OUT OF IRAQ.

[Maedhros]

22. Withdrawal from needless conflicts in the Mideast is not some Gordian Knot

requiring mythic genius to cut. Prior to the American invasion and occupation of Iraq, a number of military and geopolitical experts predicted exactly what we are witnessing right now in Iraq and surrounding countries. It's not as if the expertise to craft an exit strategy isn't there, it's just not what Conservatives and Hawks want to hear.

Exaggerating the complications of withdrawal is a political tactic used by perhaps every General in every war. It allows for war to be the status quo, with an unending array of reasons why it must be.

War itself is an ongoing injury. It's a metaphorical hot poker thrust into the eye of a nation. The first thing to do is to withdraw the poker, so that treatment and healing may commence. The eye is gone, but the life is saved. I can't see how holding the poker in place is to be considered the best option.

We have the means to accomplish withdrawal effectively. We just don't want to, for obvious financial reasons.