Reply #9: I would like to think that the blueprint for exiting

[sybylla]

suggested by the Out of Iraq caucus would in some way develop steps to ensure a force was in place with a relatively stable government to control it as well as the technology and support to thwart al Qaida.

I don't think packing up and walking out tomorrow is the answer either. But, as with everything the chimp does, we've only done a half-assed job in Iraq. Now that the insurgency or terrorists or whatever you want to call them seem to unfortunately be holding their own, we've created another situation in which the best we can hope for short of a heavy-handed military state in Iraq is a draw. I say draw because it is my understanding that insurgencies wither without the support of the people. If the insurgency has won the PR battle with merely a quarter of the people of Iraq, I suspect they have enough support to sustain the bombings and street battles. Evidence of the past six months seems to suggest they can. If that's the case, I would argue we've already lost.

So in my view, all that's left is for us to plan our exit strategy. Battles don't end in a draw unless one of the parties involved in it is willing to accept that conclusion and walk away. It took us 15 years to admit Vietnam was unwinnable. All I'm asking for is a plan that will get us out of this mess in five. Give the Iraqi people the tools they need to govern themselves and whether or not we are there the rest is really in their hands. (unless we leave tight-assed conservative control freaks in charge who look at the resources of this poor country as their retirement savings and run it into the ground so to speak)

So what if the insurgency thinks they can wait us out. Kohl seems wrongheaded in this to me. What we leave behind determines whether or not the insurgency goes anywhere. No government can last long without the consent of the people, whether it's a democracy or a totalitarian regime. In five years we can do a lot of good and leave behind a strong government with a strong economy. If you make the people happy, they'll support their government whether or not it looks like a puppet government.

Just my two cents. But you asked. :shrug: