Suggestions for Pulling out of Iraq?

[RockyBalboa]

I often hear that we need to pull out of Iraq now.

My question is.....what plan is there to do this?

What plan would you develop?

Would leaving now be a disaster? I think it would.

I just don't see many, if any suggestions at all coming from those who are screaming for a pull out (double entendre there) as to what and how to approach it.

I see a lot of liberals and some conservatives screaming, but with no real plan of their own.

What is their plan?

[UteStar]

I think a full scale pull out right now would be bad news. My problem with the Bush plan is that there is no plan. You can tell me all you want that there is a plan but there is no exit strategy. They are basically telling us that they will pull out when they say that they pull out. A lot of fears on the left would be put to rest if Bush and his administration came out and said: If this is met, and this is done and this is done and this is done, we will start pulling out our guys. We haven't seen that. We are expected to trust Bush with making that decision for us.

I am also bothered by the fact that the administration seemed to really believe that this going to end quickly. Administration comments that the US soldiers would be greeted in the streets as liberators was silly to anyone who understand anything about that region of the world. "Mission Accomplished" signs when US troops 'took over' Bagdad were equally as silly.

I think this administration needs to treat us like we have a brain and spell out what our plan is besides just 'we'll leave when Iraq is ready for us to leave.'

[MikeWaters]

I think it is likely to be disaster either way. There is a good argument that we need 50% more troops than we currently have.

The fact that we are having to reinforce Baghdad speaks volumes. That someone highup in the military chain could tell the press after the snipers killed 20 to 30 and wounded 300, that the religious festival was "relatively uneventful" speaks volumes.

It's that bad. Can Iraqis rise up and overcome their differences? Who knows? but I'm glad it's not my son in the firing line over this issue. This is increasingly an exercise in altruism, and not truly in the national interest.

I thought it was interesting in one of the recent Time pieces, that a Sunni insurgent, who had bragged to this reporter about his attacks on American GIs, months later, was bitterly complaining that the Americans weren't doing enough to protect him and his people. He did not see the irony.

[fusnik11]

Why would pulling out be a disaster?

I thought the Iraqi's already established a constitution.

I thought they already have elected officials.

I thought the old regime was taken down.

If we were to leave, how does that hurt the Iraqi's?

[Colly Wolly]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Why would pulling out be a disaster?

I thought the Iraqi's already established a constitution.

I thought they already have elected officials.

I thought the old regime was taken down.

If we were to leave, how does that hurt the Iraqi's?

Civil War would escalate rapidly I suppose. The American presence is holding off a full-blown civil war.

That and the insurgents would run even more amok than they already are.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Why would pulling out be a disaster?

I thought the Iraqi's already established a constitution.

I thought they already have elected officials.

I thought the old regime was taken down.

If we were to leave, how does that hurt the Iraqi's?

Are we somehow in over our heads here intellectually? Are there too many variables to be able to accurately formulate the policy that will produce the right result.

I am open to someone arguing persuasively to me that the present and future costs of being there outweigh the harm that would ensue from our departure. I am also open to someone convincing me that it is crucial that we triple our force commitment and institute a draft because in the long term it will cost us more lives if we don't.

I'm not hearing anything like that though. Some people say stay the course as though doing the same thing over and over will someday produce a different result. Others say pull out without giving any apparent thought to the aftermath. I think I lot of thoughtful people (I hope I am one) who have supported the war for the most part now think, I don't know what the hell the right answer is. Where are all the bright minds who can at least give us some analysis and some ideas to chew on? Am I not reading the right things? I'm not hearing ANYONE articulate solutions that make any sense to me. Is this too big a problem for us somehow? That seems hard to believe.

Maybe the political atmosphere is just too poisonous for this discussion to take place. I have said before, and maintain, that only a democrat president can effectively deal with this problem. The reason is that a democrat president, regardless of what he/she campaignes on, will not have a remarkably different set of options and tools than the current president has. The difference will be that the left will stop or at least tone down its anti-war howling and the right will once again feel free to be more critical of the war. In otherwords, it should be more politically expedient for both sides to be reasonable about this.

I will be listening carefully in the next presidential election for someone to offer a solution. I have never voted democrat but if one pops up with a solution that makes sense for Iraq I may become a one issue voter for them. My belief that someone will seize this moment with a big idea is probably a triumph of hope over experience.