Making the Case for Drawdown in Iraq

The news coming from the Iraqi theatre of operations is not good. In fact, it is downright dismal.

There are not enough boots on the ground, and if you don't have the boots on the ground taking territory, then holding it - by standing on it, rifle at the ready - then you don't hold territory. Jesus Christ. Didn't the geniuses who dreamed this fiasco up ever play "Capture the Flag" when they were kids?

First, Marine Intelligence Officer Colonel Pete Devlin proclaimed that Anbar Province is lost. al Anbar lies to the west of Baghdad, and contains the cities of Rhamadi, Haditha, Hit, Fallujah...Hot spots that make up for in unrest and tribal hatreds what they lack in oil fields.

A Captain's Journal tells us the perspective of a mid-ranking officer who is responsible for some of those boots on the ground. He offers an unappologetically conservative take on the subject, but he isn't stupid about his conservatism. He accepts reality. Waking wp in a war zone and knowing today may be the day TAPS sounds for you has that effect on a person. I encourage readership of his site, even on topics where we disagree. I am all about offering counterpoints. I am confident that my arguments will stand up before I make them, so I do not fear a counter-point.

Meanwhile, more troops are needed to quell violence that is flaring across Baghdad, but Iraqi soldiers are reluctant to leave their home areas because once they move, the game of Whack-a-Mole starts over again.

It is time to face some uncomfortable truths about our involvement in Iraq. We have been lied into war, destabilized a secular Arab nation, screwed around and neglected the just war and Osama is still free. Mother Jones gives us a lie by lie timeline so we don't miss any outrages.

It is time to rethink our Iraq strategy. We must consider that by virtue of our very presence, we are contributing to the instability and sectarian violence. Perhaps we should think about pulling out the conventional forces and leaving behind units of special forces advisors, embedded in Iraqi units. Where this has been employed, the efforts have been largely successful.

But that strategy would run counter to aWol's strident and stubborn stand that we aren't going anywhere as long as he is president. So the president has spoken, and we are committed to a losing strategy. Well at least he isn't a flip-flopper.

But then again, maybe he would have to have a mind in order to change it.