War in Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

War in Iraq - Essay Example Earlier this year, President Bush rejected a war funding bill offered by the Democratic-controlled Congress because it mandated a partial troop withdrawal beginning in October 2007, and continuing until all U.S. military personnel in Iraq were back home by April 2008. Bush responded with a veto stating that deadlines for troop withdrawals would be â€Å"irresponsible.† The Congress soon acquiesced and approved an Iraq spending bill with ‘no strings attached.’ Even congressional Democrats who are bitterly opposed to the war acknowledged that quickly withdrawing from Iraq would irreparably damage America’s long-held image of strength. This eventuality would be a political coup for Al Qaeda, as well as other terrorist groups, who could then credibly claim that the U.S. cannot back up its rhetoric with successful actions. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen echoed the sentiments of the Bush administration by saying Iraq must not be another base of operations for Al Qaeda, that this would make this well-financed and growing terrorist organization much larger than ever. Leaving, in essence, would allow terrorism to become a much larger threat to the U.S. and western nations. Iraq’s neighbor Iran and Al Qaeda are predominantly Sunni Muslims. If the U.S. were to leave, the entire country would be ‘up for grabs’ dividing into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions. Militant Sunni groups would control certain areas and would quickly establish training bases and encampments from which to launch terrorist’s actions worldwide.