Withdrawal of American Forces from Iraq and Afghanistan

Withdrawal of American Forces from Iraq
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Withdrawal of American Forces from Iraq and Afghanistan
The withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq has attracted support and criticism equally following the impacts of such a decision. Under the Obama administration, the US government decided to withdraw its soldiers from Iraq strategically, a decision that would be accompanied by positive and negative impacts. One of the positive impacts was the fact that the US stood a chance of reducing the budget in the fight that people considered unworthy. The outcome has been rendered useless considering that it caused the rise of ISIS, a terrorist group that is currently threatening global peace. If a complete withdrawal of US soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan continues to its completion, the growth of ISIS is poised to continue amidst a region that is currently faced with socio-economic and political instability. This research elaborates on the current American administration at being better equipped to not make the same mistake that President Obama made when he pulled the American military out of Iraq prematurely. President Obama’s decision to pull the US soldiers from Iraq is likely not to happen again under a Trump or Biden administration because the US has made a significant stride in its intelligence evolution, the motivation to end terrorism as a global objective, and the increasing support from the US allies.
The evolution of American intelligence is something that the new administration will emphasize in its attempt to address the possibilities of a complete withdrawal from the Middle East. America invaded Iraq under unproven assumptions. While on the brink of the war, the US asserted that their motivation to attack Iraq was primarily based on Saddam Hussein's actions in Iraq. The US alleged that Saddam had rekindled its nuclear program, something that would automatically affect the stability of the region. With an ongoing active nuclear program, the US felt that Iraq was bound to threaten its neighbors including Israel, which is a key ally in the region. The other claims that the intelligence community imposed on Saddam Hussein included the production of chemical weapons and stockpiling biological weapons. Such allegations were eventually deconstructed. The challenge was a late discovery of the facts, which happened after the invasion of Iraq by the US soldiers. The blames would soon be anchored on the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA), eavesdroppers, the National Security Agency’s (NSA), the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA), and the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) imaginary intelligence inputs. Since the mistakes, the intelligence community has made strides in supporting strategic decision making at the white house, the congress, and the executive departmental agencies.[Collier, Michael W. "Critical Thinking Instruction in Academia: What can the U.S. Intelligence Community Expect?" Journal of Strategic Security 6, no. 3 (2013): 62.] [Mandel, David R. "Too Soon to Tell if the US Intelligence Community Prediction Market is More Accurate than Intelligence Reports: Commentary on Stastny and Lehner (2018)." Judgment and Decision Making 14, no. 3 (05, 2019): 288-292.] [Staar, Richard F. "The US Intelligence Community." Review of Policy Research 20, no. 4 (Winter, 2003): 717.]
There are significant changes in the American intelligence that would inform proper decision-making strategies in the important levels of the government. The 911 attacks that fueled America’s attack on Iraq also triggered the most significant changes in US intelligence since 1947. The most important of the changes was the creation of other intelligence organization whose aims was to beef the intelligence gaps. The National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC), the Director for National Intelligence (DNI), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were some of the new inputs in the US intelligence. The new agencies would coordinate with the white house and the congress in proper decision making. Following the creation of the above agencies, the decision-making process in US intelligence has been revitalized significantly. The president and the congress/senate security committees are apply informed on the security incidence both within and outside the nation. The gaps that existed in national intelligence have been sealed and information sharing has improved. All the above changes mean that decisions concerning international security are handled with much care. More inputs are accorded to the intelligence community. Besides, the intelligence community would not like another blame for failing to collect, analyze, and utilize the right information as it happened at the invasion of Iraq.[Gil, Yolanda and Bart Selman. A 20-Year Community Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Research in the US. Ithaca: Cornell University Library, arXiv.org, 2019.] [Collier, Michael W. "Critical Thinking Instruction in Academia: What can the U.S. Intelligence Community Expect?" Journal of Strategic Security 6, no. 3 (2013): 63.]
Steps have also been made in Iraq through allied forces that should inform any further decisions on withdrawing the US military. The US has benefitted from its allies such as Britain, France, Israel, Jordan, and the UAE in the fight against terrorism within Afghanistan and Iraq. The allied forces have been important both in intelligence gathering and in the battles. Currently, one significant step that has been achieved is empowering the Afghanistan army. That is an important move for the allied forces for multiple reasons. Primarily, a strengthened Afghanistan army will help in the fight against terror groups. Additionally, the US will benefit from intelligence developed from the new military groups. As such, the US will open its information collection bases to include more primary pieces of information. That implies an improvement in information extraction, something that the intelligence community lacked before the invasion. A strengthened relationship between the US allies should help in strengthening the outcomes. The US policymakers understand that withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan will fuel withdrawal from the other forces. For its safety and strategic intelligence gathering, dissemination, and use, the US will probably rescind the decision to withdraw completely from the Middle East.[Dogan, Taylan. "Rethinking the American Era: A Historical Perspective of Iranian Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC)." Cumhuriyet Tarihi Arastirmalari Dergisi 8, no. 15 (Spring, 2012): 19-30,175.]
The US decision to withdraw its military from the Middle East poses more questions in the fight against terrorism. One of the objectives of the US invasion of Iraq was to curb the acts of terrorism in that region. Currently, that objective has not been achieved effectively. The US has a working understanding that terror attacks are still a primary challenge to the world. The measure of the amount of success in fighting the terror groups can be challenging. However, the US must understand how much it has reduced or increased its threats in the course of the war. A superficial view would suggest that the US is far from completing the fight against terrorism. A significant avenue of dealing with this challenge is through fighting terror from its source. With the notable failures in the battlegrounds, the US relies on its intelligence community to mark any viable outcomes. The war against terrorism must evolve from the basics of bombing to the possibilities or fighting the right targets through intelligence. That transition takes time to develop the apparatus. While still in the development phase, the nation needs proper military input. Hence, withdrawing the military implies the failure to fight terrorism, which was the primary reason for the invasion. Further, improper execution of the military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan harms strategic intelligence analysis and strategic counterintelligence. The US does not want to fail both in the fight against terrorism as well as intelligence and counterintelligence.[Gil, Yolanda and Bart Selman. A 20-Year Community Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Research in the US. Ithaca: Cornell University Library, arXiv.org, 2019.]
There are notable improvements in different strategic intelligence collection prospects that should inform the decision to stay or withdraw soldiers from the Middle East. The US is stra...