Bill Richardson has an op-ed in today's Washington Post. He says, in my opinion, what the Democratic Party ought to say as a starting point in getting us the hell out Iraq, an illegal, vanity war that has killed tens of thousands. I would encourage my loyal four readers to let Mr. Richardson know that you agree with him & to urge the Party to adopt this minimalist position as a beginning.
Logistically, it would be possible to withdraw in six to eight months. We moved as many as 240,000 troops into and out of Iraq through Kuwait in as little as a three-month period during major troop rotations. After the Persian Gulf War, we redeployed nearly a half-million troops in a few months. We could redeploy even faster if we negotiated with the Turks to open a route out through Turkey.
As our withdrawal begins, we will gain diplomatic leverage. Iraqis will start seeing us as brokers, not occupiers. Iraq's neighbors will face the reality that if they don't help with stabilization, they will face the consequences of Iraq's collapse -- including even greater refugee flows over their borders and possible war.
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