Why exactly is “setting a deadline in Iraq” a BAD thing?
A logical EXIT STRATEGY for Iraq that works:

“We’re not leaving [Iraq] so long long as I’m the President!” - President Bush to reporters, Monday, August 21, 2006

Ever hear a better argument for IMPEACHMENT?
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With a college degree and Cum Laude GPA, I know I’m not an idiot. So why do I feel like one when everyone in the world but me seems to agree that “setting a fixed pullout date for Iraq” is a BAD thing?

The logic goes as such: “we can’t set an arbitrary deadline because they’ll just wait us out if they know were leaving on XYZ date.” Seems to make perfect sense, right?

Well, after almost five years now (four in Iraq), the insurgency’s “staying power” certainly isn’t in question. And an even more mind-boggling argument is that the insurgency will “lay low” until we pull out then flare up the moment we leave. That one really toasts my marshmallow. We can’t train Iraqi forces because of the ongoing violence, so how does a temporary reprieve in the violence that gives us time to train Iraqi security forces be a bad thing? And call me crazy, but somehow, I can’t help but feel that after a period of calm in Iraq that allows life to return to normal for millions of Iraqi’s and maybe get some reconstruction done, improving their lives, you’re not going to find as many people eager to resume the anarchy and day-to-day bloodshed that is currently destroying their country. Maybe a few, but definitely not the 20,000 we see today. Reasonably, a number small enough that the newly reconstituted Iraqi security forces could handle on their own.

Of course, here is how it would REALLY play out:

First, with Democrats seizing control of The House of Representatives (and God willing, The Senate too), the newly appointed head of the Armed Forces Committee John Murtha would call for an immediate vote to implement his “Redeployment Strategy”. Over the course of six months to a year, troops would move out of Iraq and into neighboring countries, most certainly Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the South, Israel and *maybe* Jordan in the West, and another big *maybe* Turkey in the North (U.S. troops are already in Afghanistan to the East). Inter-faction violence would likely continue, but not any worse than it is now (with 110 civilian deaths a day), and perhaps even diminish a bit. Troops that remain “in-country” will concentrate on training the Iraqi forces, with clear training benchmarks along the way. I’d even make sure the Iraqi’s know that for every day they don’t meet those benchmarks, the deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is delayed, providing both the soldiers AND civilian population ample incentive to meet (or exceed) those deadlines. For every 10,000 Iraqi security forces trained, 10,000 U.S. soldiers redeploy (as they stand up, we stand down… sound familiar?). Some have suggested that it should be closer to 2:1 the rate of Iraqi troops to U.S. troops, but I believe that as the number of U.S. forces in Iraq decreases, so will the violence, so a 1:1 ratio should be just fine.

Redeployed coalition forces can then be called back in by the Iraqi military at a moments notice if needed, after which they will return to their respective bases. Once the last coalition unit has redeployed out of Iraq (6 months), U.S. forces begin the process of returning home (over the next six months). Within a year, control over the security of Iraq will be back under the control of Iraqi’s. If assistance is still needed after that point, troops can still be called in within 24 hours from military bases in Germany, Japan and South Korea.

During this time, ALL foreign contractors should be immediately withdrawn from Iraq. YOU DO NOT send foreign workers into a country with 50%-75% unemployment. An unemployed Iraqi with no money, no future, and nothing to do all day except swelter in 115′ heat, who sees foreigners with jobs but obviously aren’t doing a damn thing because he still doesn’t have electricity or running water, has nothing else to do all day but get mad, pick up a gun, and kill every foreigner he sees. Every Iraqi that is put to work is one less Iraqi taking up arms and joining the insurgency. And once Iraqi’s begin to take pride in their own reconstruction, they’re going to be less inclined to blow it up.

On May 21st on “Meet the Press”, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that one of the things they did *right* was not send in too many U.S. troops (”too big a footprint”), thus preventing it from looking like an occupation than… well hell, whatever it is now. I’m sure you can figure out her logic as well as I. But then the question is: “if too many U.S. troops is a bad thing, then how can too many FOREIGN CONTRACTORS be a good thing? And if you don’t want to look like occupiers, why build some (rumored) THIRTEEN American Embassies, including this $592 million dollar monstrosity…

a single 21-building complex on 104 acres of prime real estate inside the so-called “green zone” of Baghdad. “Occupiers”? Pshaw!

I’ll save “the financial money-tree they’ve turned Iraq into for American contractors” rant, for another day. Ditto for how the “continued destabilization of the Middle East ensures that the per/barrel price of oil stays artificially inflated, resulting in record profits for the oil industry” rant. What do you expect when you’ve got a “failed Texas oilman” and “former government contractor” running the White House?

Oh, one last thought… for those Nay-sayers on the Right that continue to insist that leaving Iraq early will allow our enemies to declare “victory” and only embolden them… I remind you that after the ‘91 Gulf War when we handed Saddam his ass in a sling, he STILL declared “victory” and celebrated the anniversary of “Iraqi’s victory over the U.S.” every year afterwards. Let them “declare victory”. Who gives a f*ck? (pardon my French) That doesn’t stop us from going back in if we have to, and they know it.

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