| The first of the goals might be the attainment of a certain number of Iraqi Army, police and other security personnel. These personnel should be trained, well-equipped and ready to take responsibility for a larger portion of their country and the battlefield. Furthermore, American and Coalition military and police trainers should focus efforts on developing a cadre of Iraqi troops with the ability to provide training — basic military training and advanced infantry training — independent of American forces. We can’t train Iraqi forces forever, and it’s better to get a structure in place for continued training now rather than later (waiting for later to begin planning for later has been the cause of problems from the beginning of the war).
Of course, effectively accomplishing the mission of training an adequate number of Iraqi security forces will be difficult and require substandards for effective measurement of mission success.
One such substandard should be a deadline for accomplishment of the training mission — be it December 2006, July 2007 or whatever prudent date is settled upon by interested parties. This will not only motivate American and Iraqi officials to create, maintain and command a qualified fighting force, it will also provide American troops with a needed “light at the end of the tunnel.”
Now, the result of meeting this standard would not be a full-scale withdrawal, but a reduction in force along the lines of 10% of the number of troops in-country at the time. To be prudent, the reduction number is flexible.
American and Coalition forces would remain, but they would further pull back to their bases and provide only limited, in-the-most-severe-cases support to Iraqi units. Air support would remain more readily at hand as the Iraqi military has no functioning air force.
This would only be the first step in a phased withdrawal plan — which I hope to elaborate upon further as I continue thinking it through. I hope that readers will as well.
Whether or not my plan makes sense or is even based in reality, it is necessary that Democrats and other liberals/progressives develop a coherent, understandable defense policy — especially in relation to Iraq and Afghanistan (which needs more attention). And their plans must be presented to the American public and the troops as a rational alternative to the current “stay-the-course” policy. Most important, American troops and citizens will finally be able to see the course America has charted for itself in the War on Terror. |
