Free Republic

The United States needs a new strategy in Iraq and the Persian Gulf. The war is at best a stalemate; the large American presence now causes more trouble than it prevents. We must disengage from Iraq—and we must do it by removing most American and allied military units within 18 months. Though disengagement has risks and costs, they can be managed. The consequences would not be worse for the United States than the present situation, and capabilities for dealing with them are impressive, if properly employed. Some people argue that the United States should disengage because the war was a...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2005 – "Quitting is not an exit strategy" for Iraq and would open a Pandora's box of risks to the American people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters today. "It would be a formula for putting more American people at still greater risk (and) an invitation for more terrorist violence," the secretary said. "Indeed, the more the enemies make it sound as though the United States is going to quit, the more encouraged they will be," Rumsfeld continued. "And the more successful they will be in recruiting and in raising money and in trying to...

Barring any major surprises in Iraq, the Pentagon tentatively plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces there early next year by as many as three combat brigades, from 18 now, but to keep at least one brigade "on call" in Kuwait in case more troops are needed quickly, several senior military officers said. Pentagon authorities also have set a series of "decision points" during 2006 to consider further force cuts that, under a "moderately optimistic" scenario, would drop the total number of troops from more than 150,000 now to fewer than 100,000, including 10 combat brigades, by the end...

Rumsfeld fuels hopes of cut in US forces in Iraq by Guy Dinmore in Washington and Steve Negus in Cairo Published: November 20 2005 18:58 Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, on Sunday fuelled expectations that the US was contemplating a big reduction in its forces in Iraq next year, following reports that commanders had submitted plans to cut troop numbers to below 100,000. Appearing on several Sunday television news shows, Mr Rumsfeld spoke of the significant progress in Iraq on the political front and in training Iraqi government forces, which he said now numbered 212,000. Mr Rumsfeld was asked...

Brilliant, simple, stirring...deserving more attention than it got House Republicans News conference on the U.S. policy in Iraq (11/17/2005) Comments of J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona): "J.D. Hayworth. Arizona Five." "There's no need to sugarcoat what has transpired today. People talk about exit strategies. Well, let's let the American people decide." "The majority's exit strategy is Victory and Freedom for the people of Iraq. Now, sadly, many on the Democratic side have revealed their exit strategy: Surrender." "The American people will not stand for Surrender. The American people are made of sterner stuff. And the American people understand that if we turn...

Britain is putting the final touches to an exit strategy from Iraq that will be launched with next month's election of a permanent new government in Baghdad. According to several senior sources, the policy under discussion with Washington envisages the replacement of the current Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari with a more effective successor. British soldier in Iraq Aiming for home: British troops may start withdrawing next year It would also involve an agreement with the new Iraqi administration on a phased hand-over to Iraqi forces; a reduction in forces that could begin in the middle of next year; and...

The Hill is a specialized publication, mostly for Members of Congress and those whose living depends on Congress. Still, an article in The Hill today (Wednesday) is typical of the media coverage of the Senate vote yesterday to require “reports” to Congress on the progress of the Iraq War. The title is “Needed: An Exit Strategy from Iraq.” It is written by Rep. Jane Harmon (D. Calif) and its lede includes these paragraphs. "There is now a strong bipartisan consensus that we need an exit strategy. But yet to emerge is the content of that strategy. "We have two overriding...

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, today endorsed a measure introduced by Senate Republicans that would force President George Bush to lay out his plan for ending the war against terrorists in Iraq. “We think it is important for a democracy such as the United States to be transparent with the public,” said Mr. Zarqawi in a video statement released to al-Jazeera TV and CNN. “We’ll all feel better when we learn strategic and tactical details of how Mr. Bush intends to stop al Qaeda from turning Iraq into the first major victory in the global jihad.” As...

The case for victory Tony Blankley August 24, 2005 In Tuesday's Wall St. Journal, reporters Farnaz Fassihi and Christopher Cooper wrote the phrase: "Mr. Bush and others have stopped talking so much of an outright victory in Iraq as they focus on plans to train Iraqi soldiers … so American troops can come home."  I guess they didn't read President Bush's radio speech from three days earlier where he said, in referring to our troops who had died in Iraq: "Now we must finish the task that our troops have given their lives for and honor their sacrifice by completing...

Summer is the season for World War II anniversary celebrations: May 8, Victory in Europe Day; June 6, D-Day; Aug. 15, Victory in Japan Day. But one WWII anniversary day is rarely celebrated: Sept. 29. This year, Sept. 29 will be the 67th anniversary of the signing of the Munich Agreement by (in order as their signatures appear on the document): Adolph Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier and Benito Mussolini. Today's politicians please take note: History tends to remember harshly those statesmen who sell out their and other nations -- even if it is done under cover of impeccable diplomatic...

As I've said in earlier columns, I have no particular skill for predicting the future. I discover the future the same way as most other mortals: one second at a time. But I can predict certain things with uncanny accuracy. For instance, if I send my teenaged son to clean the front bathroom, I know exactly how events are going to transpire. He'll grunt, stomp around a little (just in case I don't realize that cleaning the bathroom is a serious imposition), and eventually gather up a random selection of rags and cleaning products and head down the hall toward...

               The timesonline which is the Times in the UK started out its article in the Aug 12 2005 issue this way: GEORGE BUSH loves his Prarie Chapel Ranch in Crawford so much that he has spent almost one fifth of his presidency “taking the pulse of the heartlands” in this big-buckled, open — if not red — necked, beef-eating corner of Texas. There is no need to tell the “rest of the story” because it is obvious that this newspaper wants American to surrender in Iraq.            The anti-warists, anti-Americans, anti-Israelis will not be content until the American public...

There have been conflicting reports about the timing of American troop withdrawals from Iraq. Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. forces there, has announced that the United States intends to begin a "fairly substantial" withdrawal of U.S. forces after the projected December elections establish a constitutional government. Other sources have indicated that this will involve 30,000 troops, or some 22 percent of U.S. forces in Iraq. Some high-level statements from Baghdad have indicated that the beginning of withdrawals may be delayed until next summer. On either schedule, progress is dependent upon improvements in the security situation and in the training...

George Casey, the commander of US forces in Iraq, has announced that the US intends to begin a "fairly substantial" withdrawal of US forces from Iraq soon after the projected December elections establish a constitutional government. Other sources have indicated that this will involve 30,000 troops, or about 22 per cent of the total US forces in Iraq. The withdrawal is said to be made possible by improvements in the security situation and progress in the training of Iraqi forces to replace American troops. But how are these terms to be defined? In a war without front lines, does a...

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is laying the groundwork for beginning a withdrawal from Iraq, even as it is weighing the risk of moving so quickly that Iraqi security forces collapse without U.S. support. The benefits of a U.S. drawdown are pretty clear. Fewer troops would likely mean fewer casualties and less strain on the Army and Marine Corps, which already are stretched thin. And it would lessen the degree to which the presence of foreign forces fuels an anti-U.S. insurgency. There are now about 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq in a war with dwindling popularity among American voters. At best,...

NEW YORK, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pentagon has developed a detailed plan in recent months to scale down the U.S. troop presence in Iraq to about 80,000 by mid-2006 and down to 40,000 to 60,000 troops by the end of that year, according to two Pentagon officials involved in the planning who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of their work. Their account squares with a British memo leaked in mid-July, report Senior Editor Michael Hirsh and National Security Correspondent John Barry in the current issue of Newsweek. "Emerging U.S. plans assume that 14 out...

Iraq’s transitional prime minister called today for a speedy withdrawal of US troops and the top US commander in Iraq said he believed a “fairly substantial” pullout could begin next spring and summer. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at a joint news conference with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that the time has arrived to plan a co-ordinated transition from American to Iraqi military control throughout the country. Gen George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, told US reporters travelling with Rumsfeld that he believed a US troop withdrawal could begin by spring 2006 if progress continues on the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 27, 2005 – A "fairly substantial" withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq could take place next spring or summer if the insurgency doesn't grow and the country's political process continues as scheduled, the commander of coalition forces said here today. U.S. Army Gen. George W. Casey, head of Multinational Force Iraq, spoke during a surprise visit to Iraq by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. At a later joint news conference with Rumsfeld, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said the departure of U.S. forces from his country depends on how soon Iraq can train, equip and field its...

BAGHDAD –– US and Iraqi authorities are to set up a body to decide on the crucial question of how and when US troops will hand over security in the war-torn country to Iraqi forces, the US embassy said Sunday. The new joint task force will meet next week and report to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari on handover plans in 60 days, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in a statement. "The joint task force will establish criteria and conditions that will help determine when Iraqi security forces ... will be capable of assuming full responsibility to secure Iraq," the...

MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERSFROM: William Kristol & Gary SchmittSUBJECT: Bring The Troops Home?Yesterday’s front page of the Washington Post carried a story about a classified memo from Britain’s defense minister to Prime Minister Tony Blair detailing “emerging U.S. plans” to reduce by half the number of soldiers in Iraq by next summer. This would leave American troop levels at around 66,000. The Pentagon has denied there are any fixed plans as yet and reductions will depend on conditions in Iraq.Although the Pentagon is surely accurate in saying that no final determination to reduce troop levels has been made, it is...