The Conservative Case for Withdrawal

The United States has been a fighting a war of attrition that has taken its toll upon our country ever since President Bush proclaimed "victory" following the capture of Baghdad. Contrary to prevailing beliefs, conservatives in America are not in agreement over the war in Iraq. Thousands of American troops have been sacrificed for no financial or moral acquisition. Thousands of Iraqi deaths have composed a sense of bitterness against America. Many conservatives, true conservatives, were always in robust opposition to the imperialist war from its commencement. Neoconservative David Frum of the National Review, has acrimoniously attacked antiwar conservatives in his article, "Unpatriotic Conservatives: A War against America." From a truly conservative perspective, the war in Iraq has wounded American interests, security and reputation worldwide. But to neoconservatives, any American that articulates patriotic criticism of the war in Iraq is automatically designated unpatriotic.

True conservatives dedicate the interests of America above all other interests. However, combating a protracted war in Iraq has contributed nothing momentous for America. Oil prices have been skyrocketing, destroying the delusion that war in Iraq was going to conceive economic benefit. Few neoconservatives comprehend that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' raising oil prices are a direct consequence of our imperialist invasion, that the invasion of Iraq had a deleterious impact upon our economy. Instead of paying "Blood for Oil," we have just paid blood. Meanwhile, we possess the largest budget deficit since the termination of the Cold War in the 1980s, due to uninhibited social spending and financing the war in Iraq. Conservatives should be enraged that fiscal irresponsibility is rampant due in part to our perseverance in Iraq. Over 200 billion dollars have been directly spent on the war in Iraq and maintaining our occupancy in the war-torn country. Over 2,000 American troops and thousands more Iraqis have died, making us more despised than we originally were in the Middle East.

Contrary to neoconservative pundits' asseverations, the war in Iraq is making our country less secure. We are currently perceived as a robust supporter of Israel, an alliance already disparaged by the Islamists in power in the Middle East. The stronger our alliance is with Israel and the more we care about whose flag waves over Jerusalem makes the region spew more hatred toward America. Countless jihadists are progressing to Iraq to battle the American soldiers who personify the malevolence of occupation and imperialism that have always beleaguered the region. From the perspective of an American patriot, the war in Iraq is only weakening our omnipotence and moral authority. Meanwhile, domestic terrorists are concealed within the population, like the terrorists discovered in Lodi, California. If our country is preoccupied with confronting terrorism abroad, how are we supposed to safeguard our own citizens?

While we waste money and resources in foreign countries, we still have pertinent issues at home. Our current policy of incorporating open borders with Mexico and Canada is eroding the sovereignty of our nation. Bush's allocation of more than $200 billion to the war in Iraq and a negligent amount for border security will authorize terrorists to access the country without being discovered. Illegal immigrants are already streaming into our country, making it impossible to monitor our population growth. Our prisons are overflowing with illegal immigrant criminals being detained at state expense. While it was highly implausible that Saddam Hussein would have been able to discharge a WMD that he never possessed across the globe, any terrorist can meander across either of the two gargantuan unprotected borders, plant dirty bombs in industrial facilities and never be apprehended. Meanwhile, Bush continues to promote an unwinnable war at the expense of American lives and tax dollars.

Part of why the antiwar movement imploded was that its progressive leaders never captivated antiwar conservatives. At the inception of his first term in office, Bush ran on an isolationist platform and "flip-flopped" the day of the invasion. Progressives and conservatives trusted Bush's invasion of Afghanistan because we were attacked, but this trust in Bush dissipated with the unprovoked invasion of Iraq. An argument can be constructed that Iraq is marginally better off because of the invasion, but Americans certainly aren't. Whatever the determinations for embracing invasion, we need to safeguard our borders and bring the troops home. Iraq has a constitution, a murderous dictator has been extinguished, yet we are still occupiers. We need to consider a question of cost-benefit analysis: Are we acquiring anything tangible from our continued presence in Iraq?