House Republicans Call for US Pullout From Afghanistan, Iraq

Warn keeping presences would cost US power

Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) sent a letter to President Trump earlier this week, calling on him to not only complete the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, but leave Iraq as well, saying the country can’t stay a great power and engage in endless war.

A US drawdown in Afghanistan is well ahead of schedule, with the last 4,000 troops potentially home before election day. Around 5,000 troops are in Iraq, and talks are set soon on the future of US troops there. Over the winter, Iraq’s parliament unanimously called for the US to leave.

House Democrats have been split on the question of either encouraging military pullouts, or trying to set in place obstacles to prevent Trump making that decision. Though troop levels are far down from their peaks, the cost of keeping them in place is still substantial, something the US can ill afford every year with the budget struggles of the coronavirus.

Biggs and Massie note that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan is vital to US national security, and don’t possess weapons to threaten the US, saying “neither nation is worth one more Gold Star family.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.