Realistic plan for withdraw?

[Justin_stacy]

Skelton has plan to bring troops home from Iraq

The Associated Press


WASHINGTON — Missouri’s Ike Skelton is calling for the removal of one American brigade from Iraq for every three Iraqi brigades deemed capable of defending the country.

Skelton, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday that the redeployment formula would provide “a measurable sense of progress” that Americans needed to see if the White House expected to have support for the mission in Iraq.

“I believe that we should set a benchmark that is easy to understand and that sets reasonable, achievable standards for both our forces and the Iraqis,” Skelton said in a letter last week to President Bush. Skelton made the letter available Monday.

Earlier this month, Democrats criticized a Pentagon report that did not place a timeline directly tied to the drawdown of coalition forces and the increased numbers of capable Iraqi battalions.

The Bush administration has said training Iraqi security forces to defend their own country is the key to bringing home U.S. troops. Democrats have demanded more details on when American troops can begin leaving Iraq.

A White House spokesman said Skelton’s letter was under review and had no immediate comment
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/12988691.htm

[Slaytus]

Sounds good to me actually. once we get outta there tho bush is headed to Iran i heard

[aminorthreat55]

Sounds good to me actually. once we get outta there tho bush is headed to Iran i heard
Ha, here we go again.

[Cal Smith]

I like.
I hate the idea of setting a "time" table because then you risk things not being finished and then the potential of losing everything they've worked for. Setting benchmarks though is something that should have been in place months if not years back.

Sounds good to me actually. once we get outta there tho bush is headed to Iran i heard

I heard it was Syria

[open mind]

we could have all the "capable" iraqi brigades possible, but it won't make a damn bit of difference if those brigades don't have the will to stay united and use those capabilities once we leave, personally i don't think we're gonna ever get there and we should cut our losses, but then again i'm one cynical bastard.

[Dan Hollister]

This timetable is more of a PR thing than anything else. As Cal said, it's actually dangerous to have a timetable because we don't know when the job will get done. And if the job is not done when the timetable ends, then what? We would, and should, certainly stay longer.

[open mind]

why should we stay longer?

[FightBackHarder]

why should we stay longer?
To finish the job? Because their lives and our children's lives will depend on it?

[open mind]

To finish the job? Because their lives and our children's lives will depend on it?
like we care about their lives so much (tens of thousands of iraqis are dead if not 100,000 plus) or we're ever gonna set up a self sustaining government over there.

[FightBackHarder]

negative nancy

[Cal Smith]

why should we stay longer?

I dont see how you can ask a question like this and then type things like this.

"personally i don't think we're gonna ever get there and we should cut our losses, but then again i'm one cynical bastard."

"like we care about their lives so much (tens of thousands of iraqis are dead if not 100,000 plus) or we're ever gonna set up a self sustaining government over there."

What I mean by this is are you truly asking why we should stay longer, and looking for a geniune response. Or simply fishing for an argument based on things that even if they are legit arguments for staying you wouldn't take into account because of your "doubt" in them succeeding?

[open mind]

i did say i was cynical bastard already..........
i see a collapse of the government we're trying to get up and running there no matter how long we stay and how many of our troops get killed, to me there just to be to much animosity and lack of understanding between the various religious and ethnic groups, so we're just throwing money and lives away if we stay, time will tell i guess.

[Cal Smith]

i did say i was cynical bastard already..........
i see a collapse of the government we're trying to get up and running there no matter how long we stay and how many of our troops get killed, to me there just to be to much animosity and lack of understanding between the various religious and ethnic groups, so we're just throwing money and lives away if we stay, time will tell i guess.

On the same note there was good news today (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051027/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_051026185752) when the sunni coalition agreed to participate in the elections, but you're right time will tell.

[open mind]

that's certainly good news, i just wish i could believe that they're really commited to the political process and not just biding their time and getting what they can for now, i'd really like to believe we can turn things around in iraq and we can get a self sustaining government running, i just see to much division for a fight not break out whenever we leave, right now i think that much like when saddam was ousted i think the power vaccum wil be gigantic when we get out.