Who thinks Obama should pull out of Iraq AND Afghanistan?
Instead of reducing spending and troops in Iraq and then shifting them to Afghanistan, which doesn't cut any expenses, he should wind down all that overseas conflict, and use that huge chunk of money to help reduce the deficit.
This idea is completely impractical.
For starters, if America was to leave or even reduce their commitment in Afghanistan the democratic (if somewhat corrupt) government under Karzai would fall within a year to a resurgence of Taliban who at this point in time are waiting just across the border in Pakistan. Yes, a lot of the Taliban have been killed since 2001, but this is balanced by the Afghanis and other Middle Easterners who in the past seven years have gained a new-found hatred of America and the West and would be willing to bolster the Taliban's ranks.
Even were Obama to just cut down on troops and supplies sent to Afghanistan, they would still lose eventually, and it would be even harder to recommit after the end of the current economic crisis.
Also, swapping the money from the defence budget to the economic budget is not simply a matter of moving money between bank accounts. Much of the defence money for this year and even some of next years has already been spent on things such a payrolls, new equipment on order, ammunition and supplies and research and development.
Besides this, the military-industrial complex and the war-loving neo-conservatives are far more powerful in American politics than they are in Australian politics. The amount of opposition that Obama would face from the Republican base and the defence industry lobbyists would make such a move incredibly difficult.
So yes, great idea in theory. Like communism and anarchism.