Issue date: 9/11/08 Section: Opinions

Our View
Situation:	President George W. Bush announced that 8,000 soldiers will return from Iraq by February.
Stance:	The 8,000 soldier withdrawal is overdue and fewer than expected. Waiting for a new president seems to be a trend for voters.

Nearing the seven-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedies, President George W. Bush announced on Tuesday that military personnel levels in Iraq would remain steady for the remainder of 2008 and that he intends to bring approximately 8,000 troops home by February.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 5 that Iraq is seeking to buy 36 F-16 fighters from the US government after having already bought 24 attack helicopters from our military for approximately $2.4 billion.

If Iraq has become the biggest weapons purchaser in the world, according The Wall Street Journal, and the US is the main weapons seller, with $23.3 billion in sales, then why is our presence still needed?

College students protested the Vietnam War, which was technically just a conflict, but relatively few eyes are raised when the media reports that our own government is now the leading seller of weapons of moderate destruction.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Sept. 10 that many Americans expected a bigger withdrawal from Iraq as Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, was expected to decrease the number of brigades from 15 to 14.

That is not the case, and according to Bush, 15 brigades will remain in Iraq until the new president takes over.

Wars take time, granted, especially a war against an enemy so broad as 'terror.' But while the matter of legally or illegally entering the war need to be argued, first thing is first: bring our troops home.

As young voters who keep up with news because we're in college, listening to repeated broken promises gets tiring.

We want our countrymen back, since we're obviously selling our hardware to the new guardians of democracy.

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