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Home Front: WoT
New think tank details US withdrawal from Iraq
2007-06-21
A new think tank run by former U.S. defense officials has published a detailed plan that would have the United States withdraw from Iraq in phases, beginning in 2008 and ending in 2012. The report made available on Wednesday by the Center for a New American Security headed by former Pentagon officials Kurt Campbell and Michele Flournoy also sets what it calls "more realistic" objectives for America in Iraq.
Because as we all know, the Pentagon can't possibly figure out how to withdraw us from Iraq when the time comes.
These aims include preventing the establishment of al Qaeda safe havens, a regional war and genocide instead of President George W. Bush's goal of creating a democracy. The center, which aims to advance a strong centrist national security strategy, added its voice to the debate as violence in Iraq spiraled.
Spiraled .. downwards.
The administration should end the current troop surge in Iraq and "launch a transition process that focuses U.S. forces on an advisory role and reduces our military presence in Iraq from approximately 160,000 today to about 60,000 by the end of 2008," the report said
Sounds like the Iraq Study Group warmed over. With about as much effect. You rather get the idea they started with a conclusion and worked backwards.
A key aspect of the plan, which has four phases, would be to set timelines for accomplishing political and security goals and for the ultimate withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2012 "at the latest."
Translation: the Iraqis really aren't sovereign, they just think they are. They have to do as their betters tell them.
The report said it builds on the bipartisan Iraq Study Group headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton but goes beyond that study by recommending the timelines for U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq and a detailed plan on how to carry that out.
Run like a railroad it will ...
Phase I, lasting until Bush leaves office in January 2009, would transfer leadership of security operations to Iraqis while the United States makes a major effort to train U.S. advisors, raising the number in Iraq from 6,000 advisors now to 20,000 by the end of 2008. The 20,000 advisors would be part of the 60,000-force target for early 2009.

The administration would "hand its successor, at best, a precarious situation in Iraq. But by making the recommended changes it may avoid taking America over the brink of strategic exhaustion," the report said.
'Brink of strategic exhaustion'? Must have been a Dhimmicrat who wrote that.
It urged Bush to announce that the United States plans no permanent military bases in Iraq but would retain a significant military presence in the region.
Why would we do a damned-fool thing like that? Keeping our options open for bases in Iraq -- especially the Kurdish region -- is the best guarantee of getting the Syrians and Iranians to behave.
Under Bush's successor, forces could be drawn down even more in Phase II and be completely out by 2012, the report said.
This is just cover for the Dhimmicratic nominee.
Some may suggest the United States should withdraw only when victory is achieved but "there will no American victory in Iraq in the terms defined by the Bush administration," the report concluded.
Sez who? We kill al-Qaeda, we get the Sunnis to get with the plan, and we get the Sadrists to behave (by nailing the Iranians). Victory conditions are simple: we win, terrorists lose.
Posted by:Seafarious

#29  You coulda been one of the cool kidz 8872, but no, you went emo.
Posted by: Shipman   2007-06-21 23:46  

#28  The problem with universal healthcare, little one, is that it quickly becomes neither universal nor caring... and shortly thereafter bankrupts the society that demands it. Like a child eating sweets every day, and enjoying it thoroughly ... until his teeth rot. Trailing daughter #1 had a Kindergarten classmate in exactly that situation when we lived in Germany; I cannot imagine what her parents were thinking when they neglected to say no to her all those years.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-06-21 23:43  

#27  As if 8872 would want us to intervene in Iran. He very likely also thinks we were wrong to remove the Taliban, and he's been banging pots to get Mr. Harper to remove Canadian troops from there.

You forgot to call me a Leftie, Pinko, Commie or something like that. Is that how you rationalize the world to yourself, Steve? "Anyone who disagrees with me must be some leftist scum."

Afghanistan is a lost cause with Pakistan next door. Maybe if you made it the 51st state...who knows.

I'm sure nothing more important than universal health care will disturb you.

Made your millions off the backs of the poor by overcharging insurance companies? Or have you done anything good for the world, without charging millions that is? If not, then you shouldn't criticize universal health care.
Posted by: 8872   2007-06-21 22:59  

#26  "I tried to think but nothing happens."

-Curly

MY HERO! All time fave. Best. Curly. Quote. Ever.

(Rates right up there with, "Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an occasion.")
Posted by: Zenster   2007-06-21 18:29  

#25  I enjoy the occasional thinking myself. But speaking of think tanks...I hope the Burg is getting its hands on some of that lucrative think tank cash. Seriously though, the resources available to the public by way of you guys here at Rantburg are phenomenal to say the least. I have no doubt ye creators and mods are maximizing revenue flow hereabouts through some thinking. Myself, I most enjoy the tanking, and a few short hours from now I will begin said tanking to my liver's ultimate disdain.Cheers!
Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding   2007-06-21 15:02  

#24  "I tried to think but nothing happens."

-Curly
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-06-21 11:39  

#23  Hey, everybody! Let's start a think tank!!
Posted by: Kurt Campbell and Michele Flournoy    2007-06-21 10:52  

#22  As if 8872 would want us to intervene in Iran. He very likely also thinks we were wrong to remove the Taliban, and he's been banging pots to get Mr. Harper to remove Canadian troops from there.

Crawl back into your cocoon, 8872, I'm sure nothing more important than universal health care will disturb you.
Posted by: Steve White   2007-06-21 08:57  

#21  Ixnay on the ithay istlay alktay...
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-06-21 08:55  

#20  Ralph Peters would disagree.
Posted by: doc   2007-06-21 08:54  

#19  That list isn't a think tank. It is a hit list of seditionists.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-06-21 07:50  

#18  It's kinda funny... a leftard troll over at Protein Wisdom was railing about the "on or off thinking" of the right -- that we saw only two states to everything. Then along comes the troll in this thread, and it can't seem to see the space between chaos and paradise.

If we REALLY want to see violence and horror in Iraq, we should put Democrats in charge. Look what they've done to Detroit, New Orleans, LA, etc.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2007-06-21 06:54  

#17  Looks like you outfoxed ol' Pappy, 8872. Prolly skeered 'em off.

Now go away and play somewhere else, O.K.?
Posted by: Bobby   2007-06-21 06:18  

#16  A Dermatophyte "Think Tank," ... why do they hate us?
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-06-21 03:54  

#15  Joe! What happed to caps?
Posted by: gromgoru    2007-06-21 03:29  

#14  But then again, I do get to read the reports. There is a downward spiral.

So, does this mean you'll be leaving soon? Is the mission accomplished? Perhaps you could re-deploy to Afghanistan? What about Iran? Hello?
Posted by: 8872   2007-06-21 02:06  

#13  This "new" stink tank is comprised of Clintorrhoids.
Posted by: Captain America   2007-06-21 01:42  

#12  Warm and fuzzy? No. Is it as safe as walking down the streets of, say, Vancouver? No.

But then again, I do get to read the reports. There is a downward spiral. Whether it lasts is another story. But.It.Is.There.Troll. Deal with it.
Posted by: Pappy   2007-06-21 01:34  

#11  Actually, it has.

Feeling all warm and fuzzy about it, Paps?

Like I said, the land of milk and honey.
Posted by: 8872   2007-06-21 01:23  

#10  damn just look at that cabal. makes my skin crawl.

another good winkle from out of the woodwork, Mr. Pappy.
Posted by: RD   2007-06-21 01:19  

#9  Actually, it has. But then again, my little multi-nymed Canadian, why let facts get in the way, eh?
Posted by: Pappy   2007-06-21 01:13  

#8  Spiraled .. downwards.

Yeah right. Iraq: the veritable land of milk'n'honey.
Posted by: 8872   2007-06-21 01:04  

#7  A search for 'Center for a New American Security' shows it has a comfortable relationship with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A look at CNAS' trustees and Advisors sez it all:

Board of Directors

The Honorable Dr. William J. Perry, Chairman of the Board
Professor and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, Stanford University

The Honorable Dr. Madeleine K. Albright,
Principal, The Albright Group LLC

The Honorable Richard L. Armitage, President, Armitage International

Norman R. Augustine, Former Chairman, Executive Committee, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Admiral Dennis C. Blair, USN (Ret.), Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Command

The Honorable Dr. Richard J. Danzig, Sam Nunn Prize Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies

William J. Lynn, Senior Vice President, Government Operations & Strategy, Raytheon Company

Lieutenant General Greg S. Newbold, USMC (Ret.), Managing Director, Torch Hill Capital

John D. Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress

Board of Advisors

Rand Beers, National Security Network

Dr. Hans Binnendijk, Director, Center for Technology and National Security, National Defense University

Dr. Ashton Carter, Ford Foundation Professor of Science and International Affairs, Harvard University

Dr. Michael Green, Senior Advisor and Japan Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies

LtGen Wallace C. Gregson, USMC, Jr., (Ret.), WCG & Associates International, LLC

Andrew Hoehn, Vice President and Director, Project Air Force, RAND Corporation

Dr. Michael O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

Dr. Mitchell Reiss, Vice Provost for International Affairs, College of William & Mary

Dr. Susan Rice, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy and Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Principal, The Albright Group LLC

Gayle Smith, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

James Steinberg, Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

Round up the usual suspects...
Posted by: Pappy   2007-06-21 00:59  

#6  EM, Alaska Paul.. as always good to seez youse too!

;-)
Posted by: RD   2007-06-21 00:47  

#5  America over the brink of strategic exhaustion..!

GeePers that Swell..

I'll have to remember to giver this one to mr. Shipman so he can add it to ..

"Powerful Islamic Courts.."

"The Deadly Spring Offensive.."

"Sounds like a highly sophisticated attack from a resilient and increasingly organized resistance.."

/lol
Posted by: RD   2007-06-21 00:39  

#4  Hey Joe!! Good to see you, buddy! Throw us some wisdom (or at least a travelogue) from across the International Date Line. We've been starvin-like.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-06-21 00:37  

#3  JOE!!!!!1!!11!

We wuz worried-like.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-06-21 00:31  

#2  heh JOE good to see ya buddy! Glad yer back!!

>:-)
Posted by: RD   2007-06-21 00:30  

#1  Except that both Israel and Russia believe that something may happen to induce a de facto US-Iran conflict btwn now and 2009.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-06-21 00:28  

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