Senator Russ Feingold has introduced a resolution calling for Bush to set a timetable and a list of goals and actions to begin exiting Iraq for good. From the website:
“I have introduced a resolution that calls on President Bush to define the mission of our military in Iraq, set a plan to accomplish that mission and establish a timeframe for the withdrawal of US troops, so that we can provide some clarity with regard to our intentions and restore confidence at home and abroad.”
I doubt any such resolution will garner much appreciation from folks who simply want us out NOW NOW NOW. Any defined mission (other than to exit Iraq) will be met with acrimony, any plan to accomplish said mission (again, other than to exit Iraq) will be decried, and any timetable set won’t be fast enough.
The problem is the military is being used now as an enforcement tool rather than a…military. That tends to be bad for infrastructure, since enforcement generally takes precedence over rebuilding (which is why many reports from Baghdad, Kabul, Mosul, etc mention the horrible living conditions that were present under Saddam, but which have been exacerbated by his overthrow and the subsequent vaccuum left behind).
However, to exit before Iraq has the national will to both run itself and eliminate (or diminish) the threat from domestic terror (or insurgency, if you like) would be fatal to the entire purpose of the war effort and democratic reform process.
So the question is (and always has been) when will we know when it is well and truly time to leave? Neither Bush, nor Rumsfeld, nor any politician or military personnel, nor even any Iraqi or Middle Eastern resident know the answer to that. It is a question, not of timetables and exit strategies, but of the collective abilities of all to discern the times and determine, when the time finally is right, how to go about leaving Iraq for good.
I just don’t think anyone can or is ready to answer that, and to do so prematurely through a specific timetable, is to knock on the door of disaster.
First of all, does this Senator know anything about how the military works? They ALWAYS have a defined mission. I have a sneaking suspicion this guy is a moron. Btw, I like what you said here and how you said it. Good job.
Leaving Iraq in it’s current condition is practically impossible. I think there will be a draft and a drastic increase in troop levels before we even consider pulling out.
Things could get far, far worse than they are now. Lets hope not.
Well here we go again with the Iraq debate. The very issues that we are raising merely serve to confirm what I said before: We had no business going in and doing what we did. That being said, it would be worse to leave the country in shambles when it does not yet have the means to carry on without help. If we did, we could call ourselves…the Brits?
We are not raising the issues–Russ Feingold is, as well as many opposed to the war and our “occupation” of Iraq. Nevertheless, you are right…to leave now would be a terrible terrible waste and would send a serious message to anybody with a Koran and a personal or national jihad to fulfil.