CSM: Endgame in Iraq? A six-month equation; Gallup: Echoes View of Vietnam

[ProSense]

Opinion

Endgame in Iraq? A six-month equation

By Jeffrey Shaffer Fri Jul 28, 4:00 AM ET

Snip...

The six-month time frame is like a political pressure-release valve that helps keep public debate about US policy from building up to explosive levels. The first example I noticed was in a Reuters news story Nov. 28, 2005. Virginia Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record) (R) had just appeared on a TV talk show and was quoted as saying, "We have got to stay firm for the next six months. It is a critical period ... in this Iraqi situation, to restore full sovereignty in that country."

Snip...

At the end of May, I scanned the news wires but didn't see any updated evaluations from Biden or Warner. What did grab my attention was a statement by the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. Speaking to USA Today after a state of emergency had been declared in Basra, Mr. Khalilzad said, "The next three to six months will be critical in terms of this government's image and impact on the Iraqi people."

Using the six-month gambit to keep morale from slipping during wartime isn't a new tactic. In a brilliant memoir entitled "Those Who Fall," World War II aviator John Muirhead recalled a visit from an intelligence officer who exhorted the squad of B-17 pilots to improve their bombing by saying, "Keep your formation tight. Hit your aiming point. Be sure and pick up your IP, clean and fast. You do that, gentlemen, and you'll shorten the war by six months."

So I wasn't surprised to see a story in the July 20 issue of The Washington Post that included a quote from Minnesota Rep. Gil Gutknecht (news, bio, voting record) (R), a onetime backer of the war. He now favors a partial troop withdrawal as a way of prodding the Iraqi government. "If we don't take the training wheels off," Mr. Gutknecht said, "we will be in the same place in six months that we're in today."

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060728/cm_csm/yshaffer28_1

Gallup: Current Negativism on Iraq Echoes View of Vietnam War in 1970

By E&P Staff

Published: July 28, 2006 12:45 PM ET

NEW YORK An analysis released today by Frank Newport, director of The Gallup Poll, shows that current public wishes for U.S. policy in the Iraq war eerily echo attitudes about the Vietnam war in 1970.

The most recent Gallup poll this month found that 52% of adult Americans want to see all U.S. troops out of Iraq within a year, with 19% advocating immediate withdrawal. In the summer of 1970, Gallup found that 48% wanted a pullout within a year, with 23% embracing the “immediate” option. Just 7% want to send more troops now, vs. 10% then.

At present, 56% call the decision to invade Iraq a “mistake,” with 41% disagreeing. Again this echoes the view of the Vietnam war in 1970, when that exact same number, 56%, in May 1970 called it a mistake in a Gallup poll.

While the U.S. involvement in the Korean war is often labeled unpopular, the highest number calling it a mistake in a Gallup poll was 51% in early 1952. That number actually declined to 43% by the end of that year.

http://editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002914438&imw=Y

[charlyvi]

1. It'a a Friedman

Six months = one Friedman (As in Thomas six months Friedman).

[karynnj]

2. That is so good - Freidman says it all the time.

[ProSense]

3. US in quiet U-turn on Iraq troop numbers

US in quiet U-turn on Iraq troop numbers

By Edward Luce and Caroline Daniel in Washington

Published: July 28 2006 22:04 | Last updated: July 28 2006 22:04

The US administration has quietly reversed its goal from whittling down troop numbers in Iraq before the mid-term congressional elections in November.

A Pentagon spokesman on Friday confirmed that US troop levels in Iraq rose to 132,000 during the past week – the highest since late May – from 127,000 at the start of the week. The spokesman said troop numbers often fluctuated and “there might be temporary spikes during periods of troop rotation”.

However, analysts said an increase in troop numbers was more likely than a reduction because the number of sectarian killings in Iraq had almost doubled since the start of the year. The rise will prompt fears that the US is becoming increasingly bogged down in an unwinnable conflict.

more...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d236d48c-1e63-11db-9877-0000779e2340.html