News Release

November 9, 2004

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Military Presence in Iraq Detrimental to U.S. Security
Cato Report Explains Why

WASHINGTON -- As the U.S. military expands military operations throughout Iraq, policymakers should consider the advice of the ten scholars and policy experts who collaborated to produce Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War against Al Qaeda. Published in June by the Cato Institute, the report documents the many ways in which the military occupation undermines U.S. strategic goals in the region, while charting a path for the expeditious withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq.

Although the deadline specified in the report for the removal of U.S. forces is no longer practical, an orderly withdrawal, with proper guarantees for the safety and security of U.S. military and civilian personnel leaving Iraq, could be completed by December 2005. Following a U.S. military withdrawal, a set of clear guidelines must govern relations between the United States and the new Iraqi government: Do not threaten the United States; do not harbor anti-American terrorists; and do not develop weapons of mass destruction.

In the meantime, we should expect that U.S. forces will remain bogged down in street-to-street fighting throughout Iraq. The occupation in Iraq distracts attention from fighting Al Qaeda and incites a new class of terrorists to take up arms against the United States. Iraq was never before a hotbed for anti-American terrorism; today, it is a source for such terrorism, as tens of thousands of Iraqis -- many of whom hated Saddam Hussein -- rise up against the foreigners in their midst.

A bold and clear call-to-action, Exiting Iraq is essential reading for anyone concerned with the ongoing conflict and the war on terrorism.

About the Task-Force Director

Christopher Preble is director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. A former commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, he is a veteran of the Gulf War, having served on the USS Ticonderoga from 1990 to 1993. He is the author of the forthcoming book, John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap (Northern Illinois University Press).

Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War against Al Qaeda
A Report by a Cato Institute Special Task Force
Directed by Christopher Preble 96 pages, $15.00 paper, ISBN 1-930865-64-3 Publication date: June 2004

Since 1992 the Cato Institute's books have been distributed to the trade by the National Book Network (www.nbnbooks.com).

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