What Democrats Are Really Saying: Stay in Iraq

Democratic leaders in Congress say they want to get us out of Iraq. Now. Asap. But look at the fine print in the bill they passed in Congress on July 12th. That’s not what it says at all.



First, they don’t say pull out now. They say start to pull out. And they don’t say now. They say next spring.



Second, and most important, their pull-out isn’t really a pull-out. They tell the President to keep troops in Iraq if he thinks it’s necessary to fight Al-Qaeda or train Iraqi Security Forces. (Which is essentially Hillary Clinton’s position on the war.) Those exceptions to the withdrawal certainly sound reasonable but consider this: Estimates by the Pentagon and various think-tanks say that means keeping 60-80,000 soldiers in Iraq. So this isn’t really a pull-out. As commentator Dick Morris points out it’s really a “reduction” or “redeployment”(www.thehill.com).



President Bush has received brickbats of criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for how he has fought the war. The root causes of his biggest mistakes go back to domestic politics. He abandoned (as one commentator said) the Powell Doctrine of using overwhelming force to win, for the Rumsfeld Doctrine of using just enough force to lose. He invaded with too few men. Occupied with too few men. Surged with too few men. Because politically that was easier than fighting a bigger war. Domestic politics influenced military strategy and the result was a double collapse. Our military strategy failed and the President’s popularity collapsed.



The Democrats in Congress are making the same mistake. Only worse. They’re going to pull out enough men (starting next spring) to say before the election that they’re ending the war. But they’re not really ending it. They’re leaving 60-80,000 men behind. In essence, Congress is going to fight a war we couldn’t win with what amounts to eight divisions with three, locking us into a permanent “limited war.”



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What Democrats Are Really Saying: Stay in Iraq

Democratic leaders in Congress say they want to get us out of Iraq. Now. Asap. But look at the fine print in the bill they passed in Congress on July 12th. That’s not what it says at all.



First, they don’t say pull out now. They say start to pull out. And they don’t say now. They say next spring.



Second, and most important, their pull-out isn’t really a pull-out. They tell the President to keep troops in Iraq if he thinks it’s necessary to fight Al-Qaeda or train Iraqi Security Forces. (Which is essentially Hillary Clinton’s position on the war.) Those exceptions to the withdrawal certainly sound reasonable but consider this: Estimates by the Pentagon and various think-tanks say that means keeping 60-80,000 soldiers in Iraq. So this isn’t really a pull-out. As commentator Dick Morris points out it’s really a “reduction” or “redeployment”(www.thehill.com).



President Bush has received brickbats of criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for how he has fought the war. The root causes of his biggest mistakes go back to domestic politics. He abandoned (as one commentator said) the Powell Doctrine of using overwhelming force to win, for the Rumsfeld Doctrine of using just enough force to lose. He invaded with too few men. Occupied with too few men. Surged with too few men. Because politically that was easier than fighting a bigger war. Domestic politics influenced military strategy and the result was a double collapse. Our military strategy failed and the President’s popularity collapsed.



The Democrats in Congress are making the same mistake. Only worse. They’re going to pull out enough men (starting next spring) to say before the election that they’re ending the war. But they’re not really ending it. They’re leaving 60-80,000 men behind. In essence, Congress is going to fight a war we couldn’t win with what amounts to eight divisions with three, locking us into a permanent “limited war.”



Click Here to discuss and comment on this and other articles.

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Carter Wrenn

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