Should U.S. troops leave Iraq now?

NEWS FACT: In December, the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel of 10 prominent Americans, issued a grim report about "the grave and deteriorating situation" in Iraq. Unless drastic changes are made to U.S. policy there, the report said, "the consequences could be severe. A slide toward chaos could trigger the collapse of Iraq's government and a humanitarian catastrophe."

The report also called for the gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Pulling out troops immediately, the group said, would be a mistake. Time is needed to train Iraqi forces.

An Army Specialist, who did not want to be named, agrees with the recommendation. "The Iraqi [troops are] not ready to defend themselves," the Specialist told JS after completing a six-month tour in Iraq. "It's up to us to train them so they'll be fit to fight for their own country. We can't just pull out.... Then there will be another dictatorship, and then we'll have to go back anyway."

Several Democratic lawmakers believe that U.S. troops should be withdrawn immediately. The war in Iraq, they say, is unwinnable. "The situation demands much more action than [adding] trainers," Representative Maxine Waters (D, California) told The Washington Post. "I don't think 2008 is soon enough. Too long, too costly, too many lives."

What Do You Think?

Should U.S. troops leave Iraq now?

YES

"Our military has done everything [in Iraq] that has been asked of them," said Representative John Murtha [D, Pennsylvania]. "It is time to bring them home."

Sara Ramsey, 14, agrees. "I think [U.S. troops] should withdraw immediately, because we lost so many lives and it's getting to be a civil war," said the ninth-grader from Richland High School in Essex, Missouri. "Iraqis need to get in line and shape up their country. So many of our men and women are fighting and losing their lives for a battle that we can't win."

Justin Brock, 14, believes that we are sending the wrong message by keeping troops in Iraq. "I don't want Iraq to think we're trying to take over and create a colony for ourselves," said the ninth-grader from Jackson High School in Jackson, Michigan. "I just want the troops home!"

NO

As President George W. Bush said, U.S. troops must remain in Iraq until a new government is peacefully established there. "One way to assure failure is just to quit, is not to adjust, and say, 'It's just not worth it,'" the President said. "If we were to fail, that failed policy will come to hurt generations of Americans in the future."

Marissa Maggio, 12, agrees. "We should keep the troops there for a while to get the job done, no matter what the price," said the seventh-grader from St. Anne's School in Lodi, California. "From interviews I've read, the soldiers in Iraq believe in the cause and are anxious to finish the job. They are seeing the benefits."

Kay-Lea Wilde, 13, thinks that an immediate withdrawal would make a bad situation worse. "If we withdrew immediately," she said, "then [Iraqis] would have more problems, and [we would be no closer] to world peace."