I served two tours of duty in Iraq. Let me explain what will happen if the U.S. loses there….Al-Qa'ida will regain its foothold in Iraq and eventually gain enough support to overthrow the democratic government in Baghdad. With Iraq as a base of operations, the extremists will have the resources to export their message and terrorists acts throughout the middle east. The governments of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt are undermined and will eventually collapse-replaced by fundamental extremist regimes. The overthrow of these governments will revive the Islamic Caliphate, establishing Baghdad as its capital and threatens Israel. Potentially, the extremists will use their vast oil wealth to procure and employ weapons of mass destruction. Attacks on the U.S. and Europe will increase.

The views expressed in this statement are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense or U.S. Government