'Tenuous' case exists for staying in Iraq : US analyst (Cordesman)

[Barrett808]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has only high-risk and uncertain options in Iraq but a "tenuous case" can be made for staying on, a respected US military analyst just back from the country said Tuesday.

Anthony Cordesman wrote in a report that some recent breakthroughs in Iraq were down to luck, and quoted an unnamed US official as likening the situation to "three dimensional chess in the dark while someone is shooting at you."

Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also concluded that the manner of any US exit from Iraq would be crucial.

"It seems likely that the US will ultimately be judged far more by how it leaves Iraq, and what it leaves behind, than how it entered Iraq."

...

"In fact, the 'new' strategy President George W. Bush announced in January 2007 has failed in many aspects of its original plan," Cordesman wrote.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070807/pl_afp/usiraqpoliticsunrest

[IndianaGreen]

1. Jesus wants us to stay in Iraq. Case closed!

BTW, Cordesman has been a strong advocate of the war. He ain't about to tell us to get out.