Since March 19, 2003, the day coalition forces crossed the Iraqi border with the belief that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was hoarding weapons of mass destruction, critics have called for a detailed plan to withdraw from the volatile region.
The question of when troops will withdraw still remains.
Obama, an Illinois Democrat, has remained steadfast in his assertion he’ll have the troops home in a span of about 16 months, and pledged to give the joint chiefs and the commanders in Iraq a new mission geared toward coming home.
By contrast, McCain, an Arizona Republican, has been hesitant to commit to a timetable to bring the troops home.
“His position sounds more like President Bush’s,” said Dr. Luke Nichter, assistant professor for social studies at Tarleton State University-Central Texas. “Sen. McCain is very hesitant to commit to a timetable for withdrawal.”
However, a timetable may be an unrealistic endeavor.
Nichter, who has worked with members of Congress and the British Parliament, compared the governmental transition in Iraq to that in Japan following the end of World War II.
“It took about 10 years in Japan,” Nichter said.
Many who have served in times of war believe U.S. forces in Iraq are on the right course.
Lenny McCall, who serves as the quartermaster for VFW Post No. 4008 in Belton, said that even though Obama may know the right thing to say, his inexperience is stacked against him.
“He is probably the most unqualified candidate there is, as far as I am concerned, and I think he is too un-American,” McCall said. “He is not the type of person we need running our country.”
Dr. Tracy Cook, who teaches American government at Central Texas College, has a lot of soldiers and military dependents in her classes, and many of them know firsthand about the happenings in Iraq.
Some of that class time has included discussions about the candidates and their stances on Iraq.
“What I see in my classroom is an effort to not only finish successfully, but finish what is going on in Iraq,” she said. “I have a lot of students who have been to Iraq.”
As a result, many of those who are in her class tend to lean toward Obama because of a desire to get out of Iraq.
“There is a lot of support for the war in Iraq,” she said. “I just think there is a lot of concern for having a goal to end the war.”
Meanwhile, McCain, who supported the war and the surge in 2006, did so in the wake of what he referred to as four years of a badly conceived military strategy.
There are differences between the candidates, especially when it comes to dealing with Iraq’s neighbors: Syria and Iran.
Obama’s plan calls for surging diplomacy with the two nations to help secure the borders, and encouraging those nations to help bolster the fledging Middle Eastern democracy with the help of the United Nations.
McCain’s plan, which also requires the help of the U.N., calls for the international community to exert political pressure on Syria and Iran because of their support of terrorism in the region.
He favors bolstering military forces in the region, while Obama’s plan will call for a Status-of-Forces Agreement to negate any requirement for a permanent military presence in the region.
The Obama and McCain doctrines on Iraq tend to get muddy when the candidates talk about the ever-evolving Iraqi government.
Both candidates agree the current Al-Maliki government needs to be more proactive in taking control of its own provinces on its road to self-government. But in some cases, that has been a work in progress, and especially so since 2007.
It was after the 2006 surge that the often reported sectarian violence and insurgency that was commonplace for so long began to subside.
Troops in the 1st Cavalry Division, the 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions, the 10th Mountain Division and the 101st Airborne Division took part in the surge.
In fact, as the 1st Cav was returning from its fourth rotation earlier this year, it was preparing its leaders on the ground to teach Iraqi leaders how to govern themselves on the municipal level, and used the Killeen City Council as their model.
But the transition became more significant last week as the Rashid district, a former al-Qaida stronghold and a hotbed for insurgency, was handed over to Iraqi security forces by U.S. forces.
The soldiers of 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th ID, Multi-National Division-Baghdad, who assisted in the process, were proud of the about 1,500 Sons of Iraq - a volunteer security force. The group showed up in the Jihad and Aamel communities of the Rashid district in southern Baghdad to register as official Iraq government security elements as part of that changeover process.
“The Iraqi Army leadership did a tremendous amount of work to systematically enroll the Sons of Iraq from Jihad,” said 1st Lt. Casey Staker, a 4th ID soldier. “The Iraqi Army and national police in our area are taking the lead on security and are showing their capabilities daily.”
Obama says protecting the population is an important task, and promises to avoid a humanitarian crisis by providing help for refugees within the Iraqi borders.
McCain says that can only be accomplished by helping the Iraq people help themselves.
The United States has helped Iraqi businesses begin contributing to their own economy by providing microloans, which are paid back to the government by those businesses.
Like small business loans in the U.S., the microloans encourage entrepreneurship.
bkirk@temple-telegram.com
The 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs office contributed to this article.
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series about where John McCain and Barack Obama stand on issues that affect Central Texans.
Thursday: A look at each candidate’s economy/housing plan.
