Countdown to Iraq withdrawal

While on the campaign trail, Barack Obama pledged to end the war in Iraq within 16 months of taking office.

In February, he announced that the United States would end "combat operations" in Iraq by the end of August, 2010. Taken at face value, this declaration seems to come close to the commitment he made as a candidate. After all, the new promised date comes about 19 months after his inauguration. Three extra months doesn't seem to present much cause for concern.

Unfortunately, President Barack Obama went on to say that up to 50,000 U.S. troops would remain in Iraq after the "combat troops" come home. These noncombat troops are slated to stay there until the end of December 2011. That's another 16 months after the combat troops come home, and 35 months after his inauguration. Further, he said nothing about when the 150,000 mercenaries and contractors presently in Iraq will be withdrawn. This is particularly troubling, given that some of these mercenaries and contractors have been responsible for human rights violations and are not bound by legal constraints. Clearly, Obama and the military he commands have left the door open for an indefinite occupation.

Occupying Iraq at current levels of troops, mercenaries and contractors requires about $11 billion per month in appropriated funding. Assuming that that force is cut to one-third of its present level by the end of August 2010, the monthly cost would likely drop to roughly $3.5 billion per month. Extending those costs out another 16 months would bring the total additional appropriated cost to $56 billion.

Of course, there are costs over and above those directly appropriated for the occupation of Iraq that our society must bear over the long term. Those costs include things such as medical benefits for veterans, replacement of military equipment, and lost productivity due to war-related deaths and injuries. In "The Three Trillion Dollar War," authors Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes estimate that these indirect costs will add approximately 75 percent to the total cost of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Therefore, 16 additional months of occupying Iraq will probably cost us close to $100 billion in the final reckoning. This is a burden we can ill afford to bear as we struggle to emerge from the current recession.

Another troubling aspect of leaving 50,000 of our troops in Iraq through the end of 2011 is that they will provide an attractive target for insurgent groups in Iraq. The very presence of our troops could easily result in a worsened security situation. The increased violence could then lead to a call for more U.S. troops, and we could find ourselves mired in Iraq well beyond 2011.

Friday will mark the sixth anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq. Strength Through Peace will hold a rally at 5 p.m. Friday on Oak Street Plaza in Fort Collins to call for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops, mercenaries and contractors from Iraq no later than Aug. 31, 2010. That's just over 17 months from now. The cost of the invasion and occupation in lives and treasure has already been catastrophic. There is no good reason to extend the occupation beyond that date. Please join us on Friday!

 

Originally appeared in the Ft. Collins Coloradoan on March 19th, 2009