November 22, 2005
AS THEY STAND UP WE STAND DOWN:
Iraqi Factions Seek Timetable for U.S. Pullout (HASSAN M. FATTAH, 11/22/05, NY Times)
About 100 Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders, many of whom will run in the election on Dec. 15, signed a closing memorandum on Monday that "demands a withdrawal of foreign troops on a specified timetable, dependent on an immediate national program for rebuilding the security forces," the statement said."The Iraqi people are looking forward to the day when foreign forces will leave Iraq, when its armed and security forces will be rebuilt and when they can enjoy peace and stability and an end to terrorism," it continued.
The meeting was intended as preparation for a much larger conference in Iraq in late February. The recommendations made here are to be the starting ground for that meeting.
In Washington, Justin Higgins, a State Department spokesman, said, "The United States supports the basic foundation of the conference and we certainly support ongoing discussion among Iraq's various political and religious communities."
But regarding troop withdrawal, he said: "Multinational forces are present in Iraq under a mandate from the U.N. Security Council. As President Bush has said, the coalition remains committed to helping the Iraqi people achieve security and stability as they rebuild their country. We will stay as long as it takes to achieve those goals and no longer."
Admittedly he's a hundred-something years old now and shouldn't be held responsible for what he says, but Dan Schorr was on NPR yesterday saying that the central issue of the 2006 midterm will be whether to withdraw from Iraq. The scary thing is his fellow Democrats believe that too. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 22, 2005 7:14 AM
This won't mean anything until after the parlimentary elections, which will occur in a few weeks and will take the MSM by surprise.
Once a government has been formed, we will be able to negotiate a plan with them. I expect that a government will be looking for a substantial long-term presence if only to ward off Syria and Iran.
The new government will also need the US to provide logistical and operational support (ccc systems) and, most importantly training. the training mission will take at leat 15 years (the length of time it takes to cgroom a good NCO).
On the other hand, US troops should not be in unit combat by the middle of next year and we should see the total number droop to the vicinity of 100,000 by then. By next fall, the issue will have receeded into the backround.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at November 22, 2005 10:44 AM