In the past, I have referred to the ambiguity of the drive to develop a new strategy in Iraq that will result in our leaving the nation (at least, leave the areas where civil war occurs) and focus only on the terrorists and support of the Iraqi forces. My problem has been two-fold: (a) we initiated the uncalled for action and we are responsible for putting things back together again in some stable fashion, and (b) leaving may represent only an interim maneuver before our need to return to avoid disintegration of the entire nation (with the inevitable involvement of neighboring Muslim nations).
The recent Time article, "How to Leave Iraq", adds another troublesome reality, viz., it takes time to leave, a lot of time. "Pulling out 10 combat brigades — roughly 30,000 troops, along with their gear and support personnel — would take at least 10 months". Were some plans to reduce our forces by half to be implemented, presumably it would be that much longer. Moreover, there are reasons to believe that the departing forces will be easy targets to many Iraqis.
Getting out of a failed nation is no easy task. We never received the welcome envisioned by our Vice-President. I hate to think how we will be perceived as we walk away from the mess we created.
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