"Five years ago, we invaded Iraq because we were told that they were trying to build weapons of mass destruction. After invading, we searched for these weapons, but found none whatsoever. Since we completed our objectives of overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s government and searching for his supposed weapons of mass destruction, it doesn’t make any sense to remain in Iraq.

This war has already cost us hundreds of billions of dollars and, when inflation and veterans’ costs are factored in, it is calculated to cost us trillions of dollars. No one who supports this war can be called a fiscal conservative. There is no way to try to reduce government spending and still pay for a war.

We need to bring the troops home from Iraq. There is no point in keeping them over there, and it’s too expensive to do so. We need to begin focusing on defending our own nation and stop defending every other country in the world."

--Michael Benoit