An Army Up For Grabs

The arguments against an abrupt withdrawal of American troops are the same ones made when violence was spinning out of control in the country in 2006 -- and they are still valid.

At least five likely consequences would flow from abruptly abandoning the people of Iraq. Such a shortsighted U.S. policy would be a severe blow to the Iraqi security situation, oil exports, American allies in the region, the global war against terrorism, and the future of all Iraqis.

A sudden U.S. withdrawal would raise the risks of full-fledged civil war and disintegration of the army into hostile factions. The defection of soldiers to various militias, taking with them their heavy equipment, would bolster the militias’ firepower and capacity to seize and hold terrain. The result would be a bloody and protracted civil war, such as the conflict in Bosnia following the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.