Abizaid Wants U.S. to Adopt Dean Iraq Strategy

You gotta love this:

The top U.S. military commander in the Persian Gulf area said Friday he needs no more American troops in Iraq, but he pointedly urged Muslim nations to send forces ....

"I do favor the inclusion of more international troops, especially more Muslim troops," he said. "For example, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia - they all have very capable and very professional forces that could be added to the stability equation" once Iraq regains its political sovereignty.

Here's Gov. Howard Dean in an NPR interview with Bob Edwards on July 2, 2003:

EDWARDS: What would you be doing differently in post-war Iraq?

DEAN: Now that we're there, we can't leave. We cannot allow chaos or a fundamentalist regime in Iraq because it could be fertile ground for al Qaeda. First thing I would do is bring in 40,000 to 50,000 other troops. I'd look to Arab countries, Islamic allies, countries, Islamic countries who are our allies, NATO, the United Nations.

And so as not to solely drudge up the good old days of a prospective Dean nomination, Abizaid's newly discovered policy is a page out of Kerry's book too (from August 31, 2003):

The best decision is a decision that protects the troops, and the best way to protect the troops is to get Arab-speaking Muslim troops on the ground in Iraq.

Kerry should not allow Bush and the GOP to grab Kerry's policy and claim it as their own. He and most Democrats have been promoting a sensible Iraq policy for months. And just now some conservatives are figuring out that the Democrats were right all along.

Now which party is best equipped to lead the U.S. in foreign policy?