IRAQ: Buckle Up Until 2009
24 July 2007 7:39 am by Taylor Marsh
This shouldn’t shock anyone.
While Washington is mired in political debate over the future of Iraq, the
American command here has prepared a detailed plan that foresees a significant
American role for the next two years.(snip)
The plan envisions two phases. The “near-term” goal is to achieve
“localized security” in Baghdad and other areas no later than
June 2008. It envisions encouraging political accommodations at the local
level, including with former insurgents, while pressing Iraq’s leaders
to make headway on their program of national reconciliation.The “intermediate” goal is to stitch together such local arrangements
to establish a broader sense of security on a nationwide basis no later than
June 2009. … ..
The specifics will change as situations on the ground ebb and flow. The real
point is what I’ve been talking about for a long time, which is that Mr. Bush
is not going to change the reality much in Iraq while he’s in office. The next
president will have the pleasure of withdrawing forces down and dealing with
the aftermath left in Iraq, which has unraveled slowly over Bush’s incompetent
fumbling in all things foreign policy. Unless the Democrats get enough Republicans
to join them in September, the next president will have on her or his shoulder
the burden of pulling out of Iraq. That’s key.
The other reality is time. There just isn’t enough of it to get done what we want. It takes a lot of effort to turn the DoD and Pentagon around. Republicans covering for Bush have allowed the clock to continue to tick down. Handing off Iraq to a Democratic president lays it in her or his lap. It’s amazing how quickly politicians change their mind about chaos when it officially becomes their mess.
The pace of withdrawal hangs in the balance.
