Last Combat Troops Leave Iraq

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I think our hands are kinda tied on Iran. But you may be right, from an intel perspective we might be able to keep an eye on Iran, but nothing more than that.

Not sure what you mean by hands are tied, but our presence in Iraq offers a few strategic things:

- Possible future deployment location for our anti-missile system. Kind of hard for Iran to assault Israel with long range missiles if we have a system to shoot down their birds.

- Iraq becomes a possible staging area for future mid-east conflicts, whether they involve the defense of Israel, or whatever.

- Geographically, it puts an American presence right smack between Syria and Iran.

- Increased leverage on Iran in negotiations for nuclear non-proliferation.