In reference the events of April 19, in which an explosion in Iraq killed at least 30 people, according to media accounts, it brought much sorrow to my heart.
In my opinion, it could have been avoided if President Barack Obama had not withdrawn all of our troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, which was obviously a political ploy to please the general public in order to strengthen his position in the upcoming election of 2012.
I strongly believed the U.S. should maintain a standing military force in Iraq to assure that a people's democracy would remain in operation there to prevent civil wars, and to eliminate the creeping influence of Iran, al Qaida, and the Taliban.
In addition, I also felt the U.S. had an obligation to protect the cause for which thousands of our military personnel gave their all in the initial invasion of Iraq, in the hopes that a strong democratic nation would be a shining example to the other autocrats in the Middle East.
But no. Our commander-in-chief thought otherwise; and since that disastrous date of Dec. 31, 2011, there have been over a half dozen announcements of inner violence in Iraq.
Let's hope and pray that these conditions don't repeat themselves in the tremendous uprisings in the Afghanistan and Pakistan areas where President Obama has announced a date of 2014 for withdrawal of our troops there.
Such a move would give Middle East rebels — who have openly announced many times that their one aim in life is to annihilate every freedom-loving individual from the face of this earth — sufficient time to organize and attack the U.S.
To protect our democratic form of government, I suggest that such a withdrawal not be made until conditions absolutely warrant it, which will probably be never when you take into consideration the numerous wars of survival in which we have been involved since the American Revolution.
Have strength and faith, dear ones. Hold your chins up high.
Quinton D. Thompson
Towson
