When Are the Troops Coming Home?

President Bush has once again started searching for support for the war in Iraq. But where exactly does he expect to find this support? Not from the Democrats. And much of the American population probably won’t support him either. Let’s take a look at some of the recent situations as to why people may be questioning Bush’s plans:

• On January 10th, 2007, President Bush revealed his “New Way Forward” and said that 20,000 American troops were being sent to Iraq.
• When the 2008 budget proposal was released on February 5th, 2007, Bush asked for $145 billion to be set aside for use in the war.
• As of March 1st, 2007, $505 billion has been spent on the war in Iraq since it’s beginning.
• On Saturday, March 10th, 2007, President Bush requested $3.2 billion to pay for 8,200 additional troops to go to Iraq. More troops = more money and most likely, more causalities.
• As of Sunday, March 18th, 2007, 3220 American troops have been killed, and over 20,000 wounded.

This war started in 2003. We’re going on year four – during which time I, have graduated high school and in three months, will be graduating college. Whether it was someone from school who has risked his or her life to fight for our country, or a friend who’s had their friend overseas, almost everyone (including myself) has known someone involved in the war. Being a sociology major, I can’t help but look at how this affects the general public. The war in Iraq takes its toll on various members of society, from parents, to spouses, to children. Many support the troops, but few support the reasons they are there.

Because the troops have not yet been pulled out, the war in Iraq has a good chance of becoming a major responsibility of the next President of the United States. And what a burden to take on. Many candidates have been making sure that the voting population is aware of where they stand in regards to the war and what they plan to do to change our current situation. But if Bush is unable to finish what he has started overseas, we also need to ask how a new President, whether Democrat or Republican, will handle the situation once they come into power. Instead of focusing on how the candidates felt about the initial troop surge back in 2003, America needs to start hearing workable plans from each candidate to pull the troops out of Iraq.

Pulling the troops out of Iraq needs to be a main focus of our candidates because no one can deny that it is a very important issue. I believe I speak for many when I say that we want the US troops to come home safely, but it’s hard to be optimistic when the end of the war keeps getting pushed further and further out of sight. Please Mr. President, start giving us some hope to grasp onto instead of leaving us wondering when our troops are going to come home and our deficit is going to stop growing.

Kate Broda '07
Wilkes University
Sociology & Communication Studies Major