Sunday, June 10, 2007
Plans! We need more plans!
And Thomas Ricks, writing in the WaPo, describes some of the plans being prepared for a drawdown of troops to a number that will be condemned to a long term tour in Iraq. This is supposed to be the "Korea solution" to the problem. What is not stated is what is to be done about the constant potshots and harassing attacks this stay behind force will face, unlike in Korea. And what to do as the boiling pot of the various power struggles in Iraq blow off the lid that a smaller force can no longer contain? And the lid will blow off until the Iraqis themselves work out the solution in their own fashion. There is one plan, the most unlikely, that will provide the best answer for this country.
The only fly in the ointment is Our Dear Embattled Leader who will blow off any plan that requires him to diminish his heroic image in his mirror. But Hilary, Barack, John or Al can rest assured that the military WILL have a plan for whatever path they will take.
The planning is shaped in part by logistical realities in Iraq. The immediate all-or-nothing debate in Washington over troop levels represents a false dilemma, some military officials said. Even if a total pullout is the goal, it could take a year to execute a full withdrawal. One official estimated that with only one major route from the country -- through southern Iraq to Kuwait -- it would take at least 3,000 large convoys some 10 months to remove U.S. military gear and personnel alone, not including the several thousand combat vehicles that would be needed to protect such an operation.So it takes a year. The act of withdrawal and the necessary concentration of forces would minimize attacks and losses for US troops and wonderfully focus the efforts of the Iraqis to deal with the aftermath.
The only fly in the ointment is Our Dear Embattled Leader who will blow off any plan that requires him to diminish his heroic image in his mirror. But Hilary, Barack, John or Al can rest assured that the military WILL have a plan for whatever path they will take.
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