2007 Articles Index
America Can Be Better
Thursday March 8, 2007
Iraq: Our Timetable (and Theirs)
for Troop Withdrawal
There is nothing wrong in principle with announcing a schedule for doing things that we feel we ought to do. Knee-jerk reactions that declare that any consideration of a timetable is tantamount to handing victory to the terrorists serve no better purpose than knee-jerk reactions that support mindless timetable plans for exit without thought of consequences.
There are three problems to solve: (1) We need to make it clear that there is a limit to our stay. (2) We need to find a timetable plan that does not strand the new Iraqi government and guarantee its failure. (3) We need to call the world's attention to the fact that it is not the U. S. military or U. S. troops that keep the violence level cranked up so high in Iraq. Incredible as it seems, it has not proven possible to keep enough people aware of the fact that the daily mayhem in Iraq is caused by terrorists of one stripe or another, and solely for the purpose of providing headlines and images that have brought about exactly what we now have -- a mindless call for exit of the U. S. military, partly based on accusations that it is the U. S. military presence that causes the problems.
Solution to problem #1: Announce a timetable. Say that the U. S. military will withdraw within 180 days, or 90 days, or 360 days, whatever interval we can all agree on. Announce that the count starts from what we will call EoV-Day. More on that in a moment.
Solution to problem #2: Guarantee the Iraqi government that as long as they are demonstrating reasonable progress in taking over their own security, we will not leave while violence remains rampant.
Solution to problem #3: Define EoV Day (End of Violence Day) as the latest day on which a roadside bomb goes off in Iraq, or a suicide bomber detonates himself or herself in Iraq, or anyone is kidnappedand used for ransom or propaganda purposes in Iraq. Include the list of all the things that have to stop. Every time another occurrence of one of these events is noted, reset the EoV Day to that date. Let everyone know that as soon as we can count the 180 or the 90 or the 360 days without having to reset EoV Day, we're gone. And when that interval has passed, don't half-step. Start moving troops out as quickly as can be done without causing chaos.
Let the extremists and their friends determine when we leave. The day that they stop sabotaging the Iraqi nation with these acts, they start the clock on U. S. tropp withdrawals.
And if that golden day should come, when the required interval has passed without resetting EoV Day, watch how fast we can get our troops home.
Our problem is that we keep trying to control everything, even things that we can't control. So, we need to commit to controling the things we can control (supporting the Iraqi government, setting EoV Day, getting our own troops our of Iraq) and let the terrorists control the things they can control (continuing or stopping their attacks and violent protests).
