EvanL
06-21-2005, 02:54 PM
National Post
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Two Democrat and two Republican congressmen are behind a resolution that would require U.S. troops to begin a staged withdrawal from Iraq next October. Appealing as the proposition may be to a nation emotionally exhausted by its losses in a distant country, the idea makes for terrible military strategy.
To broadcast a fixed date of exit would provide the terrorist insurgents who plague the country with a guarantee: So long as they maintain their campaign till the specified date, they will outlast the occupying force tasked with suppressing them. They will also be able to ramp up their efforts to coincide with the deadline, as a message to all that they have not been subdued. U.S. lawmakers say they are not cutting and running, but merely providing a timetable till Iraq's own troops will take full responsibility for providing security. But even if this is true, the last thing the fledgling Iraqi military needs is for the U.S. to broadcast the moment they will become more vulnerable to attack.
The best that can be said of the legislators' proposal is that it is an ineffectual sop to constituents who imagine that America can turn its back on the war it started two years ago. Thankfully, the U.S. President, George W. Bush, is a stubborn man who has repeatedly shown his willingness to stand on principle in the face of public skepticism. The administration is therefore unlikely to permit the measure from ever becoming law.
None of this is to say that the American military planners should not be privately calculating how and when they might start gradually reducing their military presence in Iraq. But sensible forward planning measures are not the same thing as irresponsible announcements designed to placate an impatient domestic public.
Despite its war weariness, the U.S. must continue its campaign in Iraq without fixing any departure date. Only as it becomes clear that Iraq's security apparatus has gained the upper hand should the pullout begin, and even then it must be done in a manner that does not embolden the enemy.
© National Post 2005
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Two Democrat and two Republican congressmen are behind a resolution that would require U.S. troops to begin a staged withdrawal from Iraq next October. Appealing as the proposition may be to a nation emotionally exhausted by its losses in a distant country, the idea makes for terrible military strategy.
To broadcast a fixed date of exit would provide the terrorist insurgents who plague the country with a guarantee: So long as they maintain their campaign till the specified date, they will outlast the occupying force tasked with suppressing them. They will also be able to ramp up their efforts to coincide with the deadline, as a message to all that they have not been subdued. U.S. lawmakers say they are not cutting and running, but merely providing a timetable till Iraq's own troops will take full responsibility for providing security. But even if this is true, the last thing the fledgling Iraqi military needs is for the U.S. to broadcast the moment they will become more vulnerable to attack.
The best that can be said of the legislators' proposal is that it is an ineffectual sop to constituents who imagine that America can turn its back on the war it started two years ago. Thankfully, the U.S. President, George W. Bush, is a stubborn man who has repeatedly shown his willingness to stand on principle in the face of public skepticism. The administration is therefore unlikely to permit the measure from ever becoming law.
None of this is to say that the American military planners should not be privately calculating how and when they might start gradually reducing their military presence in Iraq. But sensible forward planning measures are not the same thing as irresponsible announcements designed to placate an impatient domestic public.
Despite its war weariness, the U.S. must continue its campaign in Iraq without fixing any departure date. Only as it becomes clear that Iraq's security apparatus has gained the upper hand should the pullout begin, and even then it must be done in a manner that does not embolden the enemy.
© National Post 2005