Finally, after two long years (the point at which I thought it became abundantly clear), people have come around to the obvious conclusion that we have lost in Iraq. It takes a long time for a proud country to admit a mistake.
Our original goals were nonexistent, nonsensical lies in the first place. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There were no ties to Al Qaeda. Going on the offense against people who did not attack us is technically a war crime and was bound to be counterproductive.
Our intermediary goals - keeping the country together, bringing democracy to Iraq, and leaving a stable, friendly Iraq behind - proved to be illusory fairly quickly. As I explained nearly two years ago, there never was an Iraq. It was all a mirage.
Finally, several years later, the New York Times agrees with me and a clear majority of the American population. They have finally advocated a withdrawal because our goals in Iraq are not achievable. Welcome aboard. We've lost so much American treasure and blood in the meanwhile, but at long last the pundits have finally come around to the reality-based world.
Now that the Republican Senators have flipped and the Washington pundits have weighed in, can we finally get around to the business of doing something that makes sense? We need an orderly withdrawal that minimizes the damage we have created.
We broke Iraq by doing no planning in the first place. Can we please do some planning on the way out? I think we owe them at least that much. We can no longer fix Iraq, but the differences between a well-planned withdrawal and a chaotic one can be enormous.
We cannot just leave the country and wish them good luck on the way out. We need to do all we can to organize neighbors and internal sects and tribes to come together to figure out a way to minimize the bloodshed that will occur as we leave.
Unfortunately, this is mainly a diplomatic job and our president is the least capable diplomat in the history of mankind. So, someone else has to pick up the slack. The old guard should be brought back in. Let me explain.
Step 1: Fire Cheney. The man is literally a troublemaker. He is agitating for a war with Iran while all other sane people on the planet are looking to get out of the wars he started in the first place. He has no interest in diplomacy. In fact, he fights tooth and nail against it. He is a cancer on the presidency. He should be removed from office as quickly as possible to avoid further damage.
Step 2: Defense Secretary Robert Gates should bring in as many of George H.W. Bush loyalists as he can to help guide this ship back home. James Baker, Brent Scowcroft, perhaps even Colin Powell or Poppy himself. In other words, bring back people who know what the hell they're doing. You might not always agree with them, but you know they're realists, practical and good at what they do. And as the first Persian Gulf War proved, they can be diplomatically brilliant.
Unfortunately, George W. Bush needs his daddy to rescue him again from yet another mess he's created. Fortunately, his dad and his dad's friends are still around. Bring in the adults. Let's get our kids home safe and leave Iraq in as good as a shape as we possibly can (though I obviously realize that it will still be in terrible shape - but imagine how much worse it will be if this president and vice-president handle the exit instead).
Our entrance into Iraq was a terrible idea executed with appalling incompetence. I don't think anyone wants our exit to be handled by the same people that brought you that entrance. Bring in the adults, so we can bring out the troops.
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