The Center For American Progress has released a formal - exit strategy.IRAQ ~ A Progressive Exit Strategy1,934 U.S. soldiers have died and at least 14,755 soldiers have been wounded in Iraq. Suicide car bombers continue to terrorize Shiite civilians. Sixty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the war, and 63 percent say they want some or all U.S. troops taken out of Iraq. Yesterday, General George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told senators that the number of combat-ready Iraqi battalions has dropped from three to one. Sixty-five percent of Americans think we are spending too much in Iraq, while 64 percent are not confident the money in Iraq is being spent wisely. Despite the bad news, the White House continues its public relations push to keep the American people "updated about the progress" in Iraq. It's time for a new direction.
Rather than debate the false choice between “stay the course” and immediate withdrawal, American Progress Senior Fellow Lawrence Korb and Director of Democracy and Public Diplomacy Brian Katulis have developed a progressive exit strategy that would culminate in the withdrawal of most forces by 2007. Their report also calls for an immediate strategic redeployment of existing forces; "a global communications campaign to counter misinformation and hateful ideologies; new regional diplomatic initiatives; and smarter support for Iraq’s renewal." Read more about the problems with the Bush administration's approach and the stronger, progressive alternative.
PRESERVE THE ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY AND REFOCUS ON REAL THREATS: The United States currently has 149,000 troops in Iraq. When asked yesterday if plans for "fairly substantial reductions" in troop levels were going forward, General Casey told reporters, "It's too soon to tell." If we don't bring troops home soon, the Pentagon will "send many units back to Iraq for a third time and to activate Reserve and Guard forces a second or third time." This move would seriously compromise the all-volunteer Army. Rather than keeping our troops in Iraq indefinitely, the progressive exit strategy calls for the U.S. to "begin a slow and irreversible drawdown of military forces in order to preserve our all-volunteer Army and refocus all elements of American power on the real threats our country faces."
A PLAN FOR SUCCESS: The progressive exit strategy consists of two phases. Phase one would occur in 2006 with the drawdown of 80,000 troops out of Iraq by December 31, 2006. The 60,000 remaining U.S. troops would spend 2007 focused on top priorities such as the training of Iraqi security forces, the tightening of Iraq's border, and the tracking down of insurgents with small Special Forces units. The reduced U.S. troops presence "would be more effective in rooting out the insurgents and terrorist networks." Phase two of the drawdown would begin in 2007, and would leave behind a much smaller military force just sufficient enough "to deal with any major external threats to Iraq."
A PROGRESSIVE EXIT STRATEGY MAKES US SAFER: We need to get our troops out of Iraq for one simple reason - it will make Iraq and our troops more secure. A progressive exit strategy is necessary because "keeping our troops in Iraq is actually attracting and motivating America’s terrorist enemies" and the large presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is "making the difficult compromises necessary to complete Iraq’s political transition." Also, Iraqi security forces will never be able to work alone unless we hand them more responsibility for their own security.
BRING THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE HOME: The progressive exit strategy would bring the 46,000 Guard and Reserve troops back home to "focus on shoring up gaps in homeland security." They should no longer be stretched thin by their foreign and domestic duties.
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Progressive Plan for Iraq I think this is an approach that most Americans would support.
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