Surprised by the recent news that the
Democratic Party has united behind an exit strategy for Iraq? Well someone in the leadership must have caught wind of Markos's "libertarian Democrat" idea, because they co-opted the new Democratic Iraq exit strategy straight from
a Libertarian Party proposal from a year ago.
Here's what the Libertarian Party proposed a year ago:
The first step is immediately to begin the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. Currently American troop levels are at about 140,000. Troops would leave gradually, in increments of approximately 11,600 per month, resulting in a complete withdrawal in one year's time. This will bring the troops out of harm's way quickly, preventing more unnecessary loss of life. Allowing a year for the withdrawal will give the Iraqi government time to train and deploy a sufficient security force in trouble areas.
As the United States removes troops from Iraq, 30,000 will be relocated to other Middle Eastern countries. Ten thousand troops will be placed in Afghanistan for peacekeeping purposes. Decisions regarding troop reallocation will be based on the locations of existing U.S. military bases in the Middle East. The most likely candidates would be Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt and Oman. These countries were chosen based on current foreign military base information in the Department of Defense Base Structure Report. All of the previously mentioned countries have U.S. military bases that possess additional acres to house more troops. The remaining troops, numbering approximately 100,000 would return home rather being relocated to other Middle Eastern countries. This would help reduce the strain on military reserves and free up military resources for the War on Terror.
Those against the immediate withdrawal of American troops believe an American departure will create a significant power vacuum. They assert that Iraqi security forces are ill-equipped to stand alone. It is feasible that, given a year for training, the Iraqi security forces would be able to control the insurgency. As of January 2005, the Iraqi Army had a total of 68 operating battalions which includes the Iraqi National Guard that was incorporated into the Iraqi Army. The Iraqi government has its own Special Operation Forces, including a counter-terrorist force to combat insurgents14. As of January 2005 there were approximately 55,000 trained Iraqi police officers. Furthermore, there are five police academies that together train approximately 3,500 police officers a month. Using these numbers, approximately 42,000 officers could be trained in one year, almost doubling their current numbers. At the end of the troop withdrawal process, the Iraqi government could have 97,000 police officers trained and placed on the streets.
By removing our troops from Iraq and relocating them to various bases in the Middle East, we remove the insurgency's common enemy. The insurgency consists of many different factions with no central leadership. One faction consists of leftover remnants of the former regime, such as the Ba'ath party, Republican Guard and the paramilitary Fida'iyin. A second faction consists of religious groups who wish to turn Iraq into an Islamic state. Some of these groups are trained overseas or are foreign nationals, the latter including Syrians, Saudis, Yemenis and Sudanese. Another faction is comprised of nationalist groups who oppose American troops being stationed in Iraq and were against Saddam Hussein's regime. According to the Strategic Studies Institute, most of the armed opposition has been Sunni. Even though major Sunni political parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Iraqi Islamic Party are participating in the political process, many Sunni clerics have strongly opposed the American military presence. "Without the occupation as an outside enemy, those much smaller sectors of the resistance that are motivated largely by religious extremism and who are responsible for some of the worst violence against civilians, will likely become isolated from the broader sectors of the resistance," the Strategic Studies Institute authors noted.
The Libertarian Party also proposed a direct-aid package to help with rebuilding Iraq. Not only have the American people been way ahead of the politicians in Washington on this issue, but minor parties like the Libertarian Party have also been consistently ahead of the two major parties. Why is this? Why the disconnect between the people and our representatives in Washington?