Dates certain for Iraq exit may do harm, but so does indefinite occupation

[bigtree]

Iraq concerned U.S. may leave too soon
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-06-01-un-iraq_x.htm
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iraq's foreign minister says he's concerned the United States may pull out of the country before the army and police are ready to take responsibility for the nation's security

>>>>The Iraqi minister came to New York to urge the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of the U.S.-led multinational force, saying Iraqi troops and police cannot yet defend the country against an armed insurgency by remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and some foreigners.

>>>>Acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson, speaking on behalf of the multinational force, told the council it won't remain in Iraq any longer than necessary. But if Iraqi authorities want the force to stay, it shouldn't leave "until the Iraqis can meet the serious security challenges they face," she said.

>>>>"A specific timeline for the withdrawal of multinational forces cannot be set," Patterson said, and "any decision regarding force size will be driven by events on the ground."

And, if 'events on the ground' don't improve . . .?

Does anyone still actually believe that conditions will improve on the ground in Iraq?

[tuvor]

1. bush will pull out once his oil-gasm is finished.

Which is to say, not in this lifetime if he can help it.

[Selatius]

2. What, he wants us to stay until 2008?

You cannot sustain such an occupation like that without actually eroding the US military itself. There were units out there on the field during Operation Matador that suffered 60 percent casualty rates. They cannot be used over and over again like that unless you are aiming to cripple or send home every last soldier in those units in coffins.

I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to go to VFW parades where the main attraction is a unit that's been reduced to coffins and men confined to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives.

The only way such an occupation can be sustained indefinitely is to get fresh boots on the ground, and we don't have that short of a draft lottery. Anyone want to pick a number???