The United States should adopt a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.

Tournament: Round 2, One-loss Bracket... When it comes to Iraq, I think many people would agree with me that we've had enough. The reason that we went in there turned out to be false, but yet we continue to fight... for what? The war in Iraq must end, which is why I stand if firm support of the topic of debate... The United States should adopt a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. Observation: Within this debate, I do not have to prove that WHAT the time table should have, simply that there should be one adopted. Therefore, I do not have to say that we will be out of there in 1 year or 100 years but simply that we should set a timetable TO get out of there. I. The United States has been in Iraq for too long. A. World Affairs have been upset because of the war. Because of the war in Iraq, our relations with many countries have been upset. People are beginning to see us as the police of the world, a look that no one wants to have. We should not be seen as the enforcers of our policies on everyone. Each country has their freedom to do as they wish and when we enforce our opinion on other countries, many people get upset. B. Money is wasted. Another problem with this war is all the money that goes into it. Presently, the money spent on this war is well over 500 billion dollars. This is a problem because 1) it's a lot of money and 2) The U.S. economy is in a slump and needs all of our money in our own system. Because of this, we must set a timetable to get out of this money hole so that we can keep some of our own money in our own country. C. If a solution hasn't been reached by now, one won't ever be reached. The big argument of people in favor of the war in Iraq is that they need us now. But when WON'T they need us? You have to see that we've dug our self into a deep hole, but we must get out of that hole, the best way to do that would be to create a timetable. Once timetables are set (in anything), things seem to get moving more quickly and more efficiently. Let's stop making excuses and make some sort of plan to get out of this hole we've dug ourselves into... Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction (or even the tools to launch them) so let's just get out of there. II. With a goal (timetable), things will be done in a more efficient way. A. Iraqi troops/government will be ready to take over. Once this timetable is set, more will be done to get to the final goal which is Iraq being by itself again. Although they may not be ready as of now, you have to see that they WILL once a timetable is set. A timetable is the ONLY way that we are going to get out of there (since we can't just decide one day to leave, that would be significantly imprudent). Our goals must be set to getting Iraq ready which can ONLY be done with a timetable. B. If they are not ready, the timetable could prepare emergency extensions. Going back to the observation, you have to see that I do not have to provide WHAT the timetable is. BUT if I were to create a timetable, I would also include emergency extensions so that we don't create a worse situation. But they will be just that, EMERGENCY. There is no reason that the timetable couldn't have emergency extensions thus you will see that these extensions ensure that we get out of Iraq the best way possible. But we must start with the timetable itself. III. A timetable should be adopted. As a summary, we've been in Iraq way too long. We must start thinking about getting out of there which can only be done with a timetable. The timetable could include emergency extensions (for safety purposes) thus having a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is the most prudent option in getting out of Iraq. This would stop us from wasting so much money AND it stop other countries from hating us so much. The timetable makes too much sense to ignore. Thus I urge a Pro vote. Thanks and good luck to Megan!