The problem with Iraq, with the War on Terror, with so much of the Bush administration, and with Republican policies is the US is not fighting to win. Until the US is willing commit whatever resources are necessary to win then the US should get out as quickly as possible.
To win in Iraq today, i.e. to reduce violence in Iraq to a level at or below most western industrialized nations will require over a million combat troops, support troops, police, educators and a US presence on the order of the allied presence in Germany after WW II. In my mind these are minimal conditions to win; more may be required.
Candidates for the presidency who are not willing to talk in these terms, be they republican or democratic, are kidding themselves. If the US is not willing to lead committing such resources the US should get out.
Most candidates are not willing to speak the truth, because they win elections in the middle. Whether or not troop levels in Iraq are capped at some arbitrary level really does not make much difference. Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama in this respect are no different than Bush or many of the Republican candidates.
Bill Richardson, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich have reached the conclusion that the US public at this time is not willing to commit whatever resources are necessary and therefor the US should leave Iraq as quickly and expeditiously as possible. As any woman knows there is no such thing as being a little bit pregnant. Most candidates are trying to be a little bit at war. As Bill Clinton learned this is like saying a blow job does not involve penetration. Such stupidity leads to disaster.
Several people have drawn analogies to the Killing Fields of Cambodia. I believe the problem using that analogy to justify staying in Iraq is that Cambodia is not looked at properly. Looked at properly the experience in Cambodia shows what happens with a partial commitment. The US enabled the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia through the air war in Cambodia. This is exactly like the enabling sectarian violence in Iraq by invading Iraq. Second, the US sealed the deal enabling the Killing Fields by attempting to keep a lid on the pressure cooker in Cambodia with minimal resources. This is exactly what is happening in Iraq. When the US ceased funding in Cambodia the lid blew. Genocide and at least a million people died. The same will happen in Iraq.
Remember, the longer the US kept the lid on the pressure cooker the worse the problems when the pressure cooker blew in Cambodia. The same is true for Iraq. The US public was unwilling to devote sufficient resources in Cambodia to release the the pressure gradually and avoid disaster. The same is true for Iraq.
The other lesson from Indochina that is also true in Iraq, is technology can create havoc and is great for winning battles; people win wars. Republicans forget that the British won all the battles of the US Revolution, the American people won the war. The US revolution is simple compared to Iraq. The sooner the US exits Iraq, the sooner the US will be able to become a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem.
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