The Iraq War began 21 years ago. Though the Biden administration claims that the combat mission has “ended,” troops are still on the ground in Iraq training Iraqi security forces, a mission that puts their lives in unnecessary danger. The hundreds of attacks U.S. troops have faced in Iraq and across the Middle East since October shows that the risks are still very real.
Are those troops stationed all over Iraq to support vital American interests? No.
We do not need permanent boots on the ground to protect our homeland from credible terrorist threats that could come from the Middle East. U.S. forces have shown time and again that they can eliminate these threats through over-the-horizon strikes.
This anniversary of the start of the Iraq War is a good time to reflect on what we’ve lost in that conflict and what a better foreign policy would look like going forward. America’s sons and daughters served and fought honorably in Iraq. It’s time to honor those sacrifices by ending endless wars and unnecessary troop deployments that do not advance vital security interests.
Here are a few reads on the dangers of endless wars and a better way to do foreign policy.
Jason Beardsley on the dangers of leaving ground troops in the Middle East.
Reid Smith on President Biden’s overall Middle East strategy and how it’s inherently at odds with keeping America safe.
Read it in The American Conservative
John Byrnes responding to the loss of three reservists on the Jordan and Syria border, and how our current foreign policy has necessitated the overuse of reservists in a dangerous way.
