I got thinking that as "Stay the Course" has morphed into an attack line for the Dems, was "Cut and Run" actually a smart strategy to embrace? As in "cut your losses" - which is what I think most people want in Iraq?
I did some investigating and found this from The Word Detective
http://www.word-detective.com/... which I'm excerpting here:
Q: Dear Word Detective: Lately I've been hearing the phrase "cut and run" a lot with reference to Iraq. I don't think I've heard this phrase since the Vietnam period, and I've always wondered about what it really means. I understand the "run" part, but what is it that you're supposed to "cut"? Does it have anything to do with "cutting your losses"? -- E. F., New York.
A: To "cut and run" means, of course, to make a hasty departure, usually a retreat under fire, abandoning any further effort in order to escape a difficult situation. In common usage today, "cut and run" is a loaded phrase, clearly pejorative and bordering on the demagogic, a way of casting one's opponents' policies or criticisms in the worst possible light.
One might imagine a number of possible sources for the "cut" of "cut and run," and your guess about "cut your losses" (to cease or quit a hopeless enterprise or situation before losses become greater) is a good one. But the roots of "cut and run" actually lie in the days of sailing ships. A ship at anchor coming under sudden attack by the enemy, rather than waste valuable time in the laborious task of hoisting its anchor, would sacrifice the anchor by cutting the cable, allowing the ship to get under sail and escape the attack quickly. "To cut and run" was thus an accepted military tactic in emergencies, and the phrase itself dates to at least the early 1700s. By the mid-1800s, "cut and run" was in common use as a metaphor for abruptly giving up an endeavor in the face of difficulty, and appears in non-nautical context in Dickens's 1861 novel Great Expectations.
I find it interesting that is is described as "an accepted military tactic in emergencies". Is the situation in Iraq not becoming an emergency? This explanation seems to show that there are times when "cutting" - meaning to sacrifice an investmet to get out alive - might make sense.
UPDATE: In further research I found this post by LISoundView who found another nautical meaning - again cutting the anchor but running with the wind to evade a storm - again a smart strategy... see http://www.dailykos.com/...