[MEG33]

If I may hazard my interpretation...He was saying if we retreat into enclaves and turn Iraq over to warlords,etc,Iraq wouldn't have dependable electricity in 5 years.

[ArneFufkin]

You see some value in that program? Sacrificing Iraqis newly liberated from the Hell of the Husseins to a feudal system of regional Warlords and Third World poverty?

That's obscene.

[Burkeman1]

Maybe- maybe not. But basic public services are hard to keep up when there is no reliable or strong national government and sections of the Baghdad are ruled by different gangs and crime bosses. This is one way it could go for Iraq if Bush tires of casualties in Iraq. It "worked" for Clinton. I am not saying it is moral. I am just saying it is a proven way to occupy Iraq without casualties and thus avoid domestic political fallout.