Topic #34 - The US should adopt a timetable for Withdrawl from Iraq

Economy Rebuttal's 1)The "oil shocks, the spikes in food prices, and the collapse of the housing market" all started after the war, when before it was doing fine. They are the leading causes of the recession as all three are incredibly major markets. Their collapse is a clear sign that the recession isn't starting, but that we are already in it. All of which started during wartime, when previously they were doing fine, or at least, noticeably better than now. The war is definitely a cause of the recession, and the trend of three markets failing after it started only backs that claim up. 2A) So this long article basically says that when the economy does well, it hurts the people. Does that really make any sense? Inflation is a problem, there is no doubt about that. But it isn't a major problem as long as people can keep up with it. In order for that to happen, the economy needs to be doing well, because that means money for the people. As much as we hate inflation, that is not a product of the government, but of business, usually big business. They determine prices of goods. The government should be keeping an eye on them, regulating their price changes, which would reduce inflation. Unfortunately, they are too busy with an overseas war they should not be fighting (reasons stated above). So right now the situation is: they are ignoring their original prerogatives, to fight an illegal war. So the easy solution to Con's copied article, is to get the government concentrating on what it's supposed to be doing, not fighting a war we aren't supposed to be in the first place. 2B) So poverty leads to depression. That's not new news. If only there was a solution to poverty. Like, some method of getting poor people money. How could we pull that off? Wait, what if we paid them money in equal exchange for their labor? And what if this act, lets call it a ‘job', was all over the place, and everyone could get one! Man, that's be perfect! If they had money they'd be happy! People wouldn't be depressed or envious or anything because they'd have money. But wait a second, just because they get paid doesn't mean they'd get paid well. Darn. Wait a tick, if the jobs they were working at were doing well, then the workers could get paid more. But for that to happen, I guess the economy would have to be doing well, and for that to happen, I guess the government would have to be paying attention to it. But they're too busy fighting that illegal war in Iraq. Guess it's back to the drawing board. Life Rebuttals 1)My opponent argues that there is no way to establish peace. Saying that nihilism (absence/extinction of emotion) is the only way such a peace could ever exist (Equilibrium anyone?). I say this is false. We can notice, through history, that society is definitely on an upward trend towards global peace. Right now, we are not at that point, however, we are at a better state of cooperation than 1000 or even 100 years ago. England and France, two countries that for hundreds of years were almost constantly at war are now allies. In fact, Europe is nearly completely united. America is allied with it's old enemies from WW2, namely Germany, Italy and Japan. Even Russia can claim to be a friend, after years of distrust and near nuclear war. We are reaching the ultimate goal, but all of that can be blown away if we continue to fight Iraq, a war that our fellow members of the UN oppose. We need to get out for our own sake and for the worlds. We still must fight for world wide peace, but that only strays farther the longer we stay in Iraq. 2)This argument seems to imply that we need to take care of ourselves. Isn't this what I just said? This war is hurting us more than helping, infinitely more than helping. We need to pull out and fix ourselves up. We'll save our own citizens lives, and stop being responsible for the death of theirs. They can take care of themselves and fix themselves on their own. We need to recuperate ourselves from this mistake. Basically, this point of his works to my end. Now, while this is all well and good, but Con's arguments (or atleast the Nations, Mister's Baresh, Webel and Nietzsche I should say), do very little to explain his resolution, which should be reasons why we should not withdraw from Iraq. Rather, they are philosophical arguments on economics and the responsibilities of life. Good things to ponder on, but little to do with the topic at hand. We are not supposed to be in Iraq, and are suffering because we are. We need to withdraw and fix ourselves. Iraq wants us out, most of America wants us out, and we were never supposed to be in there in the first place. We owe it to everyone to withdraw, morally and legally. So now, I eagerly await you to tell me why we need to stay.