LAT, Rosa Brooks, "Clear-eyed questions about Iraq": It's been six months, Mr. Bush. Time's up.

[DeepModem Mom]

Clear-eyed questions about Iraq
We must get away from the rhetoric and ask what we can actually accomplish.
July 13, 2007

TIME'S up.

On Jan. 10, President Bush announced a troop surge in Iraq, billed as a final effort to reestablish security and "hasten the day our troops begin coming home." But White House officials insisted that the surge wasn't an open-ended military escalation. "In the next few months, you're going to know whether or not this is working," promised Condoleezza Rice. "At six months we'll know…."

That was six months ago — and in a report released Thursday, even the Department of Defense admitted that progress is "unsatisfactory" on many of the most crucial benchmarks established back in January.

So what next? Bush insisted Thursday that his strategy needs more time (maybe another six months, and then another and another?), but Republican defections may help congressional Democrats push through some sort of withdrawal legislation. Meanwhile, expect a renewal of heated public arguments for and against withdrawing U.S. troops....

("A guide to the worst arguments" follows.)

If we're serious about resolving the Iraq crisis, we need to get away from the rhetoric of sacrifice, cost and responsibility and instead ask clear-eyed questions about our capacities and interests.

What can we actually accomplish with the resources we have? What can we realistically expect from the Iraqi government, and what do the Iraqi people want? What's the worst-case scenario if we withdraw in six months? Twelve? Eighteen? What's the worst-case scenario if U.S. troops remain indefinitely? What will staying — or leaving — cost us in terms of allies, intelligence and regional cooperation and stability? With our military and much of the federal budget tied up in Iraq, what other crises — or opportunities — are we ignoring?

And maybe most important: Do we really want to find ourselves asking the same questions all over again, six months down the road?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks13jul13,0,5370577.column?coll=la-home-commentary

[swag]

1. That's the final Friedman unit. Let's wrap 'er up!