Will the troops return?

On Friday, our president, Barack Obama announced that all troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. He stated that this will declare an end to America’s long and costly war. He started off his speech with “as a candidate for president”, making this decision one for the books, as far as being reelected goes. He wants to make sure voters hear him out and side with him on what is the result of his 2008 campaign pledge to end a war that has divided the nation since it began in 2003 and claimed more than 4,400 American lives. He proudly states that ever since his presidency, more than 100,000 troops have been removed from Iraq and brought back home, and more than 30,000 will be back home by the end of the year and reunited with their families for the holidays. “After 9 years, America’s war will be over”

In his speech he pledged to bring the war to an end, for the sake of national security and the strength of American leadership around the world. According to a statement from the Iraqi prime minister's office, al-Maliki and Obama "shared the same point of view on the need to start a new phase of strategic relations.” Obama states that this is a positive thing and that he wants to refocus into a new transition of new ties of trade, commerce, culture, and education with Iraq, to unleash the potential of Iraqi people.

Not only is it time for troops to get back to their families, but it has also been very costly (financially) for America to keep troops in Iraq. Costs have gone above and beyond what they were intended to be, and it’s time to budget differently.

A report from the non-partisan, government-funded Congressional Research Service found that the Defense Department spent nearly $757 billion for military operations in Iraq over the past decade, $50 billion higher than the estimate released by the Pentagon. Another $41 billion for Iraq was spent on State Department and USAID initiatives, plus $6 billion for troops' health expenses, the CRS report stated.

Although we may see this as a positive impact, economically and morally, many like John McCain don’t seem to feel the same. John McCain spoke about Obama’s plans to remove troops from Iran.

"Today marks a harmful and sad setback for the United States in the world," John McCain Said. "This decision will be viewed as a strategic victory for our enemies in the Middle East, especially the Iranian regime, which has worked relentlessly to ensure a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq."

Who knows what will happen until December, but Obama did promise to bring troops home. Standing by his word would give him a one up in the election process because his commitment and dedication will become more and more clear for the Democrats as well as those on the fence.