There are several excellent reasons for staying the course in Iraq and finishing the Iraq war. The three best reasons include maturing into a patient and mature country, return on investment and honoring our word. On the surface these reasons may seem trite and sloganistic, but read on to see what I mean.

At the moment the United States is at a figurative crossroads, stuck between being seen as fickle and immature, and sober and serious. We are accused of being a fast food society, wanting everything right away, quickly, and without an excess of trouble. In many ways our culture and society inspires and augments these beliefs. Sadly, wars don’t conform to this view. Wars are long in nature. The Vietnam War, The Civil War, WWII, World War One are all major wars and all lasted a considerably long time, longer than the seven years we have been in Iraq. There is a reason the Hundred Years War is so named. Wars are long, dirty and expensive. That’s why leaders should hesitate to get involved in them. But a country that runs heedlessly in and out of wars at a whim can hardly be seen as a serious player on the national scale. By leaving Iraq now we are giving into the petulant three-year-old mentality of our fast food society.

The Marshall Plan following World War II was a gargantuan investment larger than any seen before its time. It was used to build up a devastated European and German economies in order to ensure that the European nations would thrive following the war. For the past fifty years we have seen no belligerent rise from Germany. Instead we have seen a wonderful return on investment from our German allies. Japan, Korea, France, and many other countries have benefitted from similar steadfast approaches on our parts. Iraq has the potential to be a close ally of the United States for many years into the future. There are hallmarks of the Iraqi people beginning to govern themselves in a manner commiserate with our cultural understandings. If we were to leave them now that investment is ruined. We have paid far higher prices in lives lost and money in wars in the past; Iraq has the potential to be our best investment.

Finally, there is this to consider. In the early 1990’s we fought Iraq and won a cease fire agreement with many very specific conditions. Almost one hundred US soldiers died in that cause. More than 3000 have died in this cause. If we leave now, before the nation building in Iraq is complete, their lives will have been lost in vain. This would seriously undermine both the position of the US politically, but also of the US military.

No one likes wars, but fewer people should want an unfinished war. Our past proves that when we complete a war in a positive way, the returns are worth it. When we leave too soon the results are disastrous.