A reverse Friedman

Formerly we were told that “things are getting better in Iraq,” and if we just hung in there for six more months we could think about getting out when the eternally-elusive Friedman Unit Day arrived.

Now, we have the reverse. “Things are not getting much better in Iraq,” so we really can’t think about reducing troop levels.

So, why do all the right-wingers howl about McCain being “misquoted out-of-context” with his “hundred years” remarks? It seems to be the plan to me. If things look good - we can’t leave. If things don’t look good - we can’t leave.

General Urges 45-Day Halt in Withdrawal of Troops in Iraq

The commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, refused under persistent questioning from Senate Democrats to say under what conditions he would favor new troop reductions, adding that he would not take the matter up until 45 days after a current drawdown is complete in July. His recommendation would leave just under 140,000 American troops in Iraq well into the fall.

Tuesday’s hearings lacked the suspense of last September’s debate, when the focus was on measurable benchmarks and heightened expectations of speedy troop withdrawals. But they thrust the war to the center of the presidential campaign, as General Petraeus faced questioning from the two Democrats and one Republican still vying for the White House. He told them that progress in Iraq had been “significant and uneven.”

General Petraeus’s tone was notably sober, and he acknowledged that “we haven’t turned any corners, we haven’t seen any lights at the end of the tunnel,” despite an intensified American military campaign over the past 15 months that at its peak had more than 160,000 American troops committed to the five-year-old war.

Comments

  1. David C. wrote:

    Now, we have the reverse. “Things are not getting much better in Iraq,” so we really can’t think about reducing troop levels.

    That’s a very strange reading of Petraeus’ report to Congress that apparently ignores not only what he meant but what he actually said. He said:

    I recommended to my chain of command that we continue the drawdown of the surge combat forces and that, upon the withdrawal of the last surge brigade combat team in July, we undertake a 45-day period of consolidation and evaluation. At the end of that period, we will commence a process of assessment to examine the conditions on the ground and, over time, determine when we can make recommendations for further reductions.

    I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like he is recommending that we continue with the planned withdrawal of the surge forces as scheduled. And once those withdrawals are complete, we wait 45 days and then assess what further withdrawals we can make.

    But you say:

    Now, we have the reverse. “Things are not getting much better in Iraq,” so we really can’t think about reducing troop levels.

    Well, since we are going to be reducing troops levels on schedule, it seems that he said exactly the opposite. There has been enough progress in Iraq that we can continue withdrawals and then look at withdrawing more.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 8:36 am

  2. The Sanity Inspector wrote:

    Perhaps the best thing going for us is that there isn’t anyone to surrender to. Suicide bombers aren’t conquerors.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 10:44 pm

  3. Techy Wank wrote:

    I total agree with you:

    If things look good - we can’t leave. If things don’t look good - we can’t leave.

    We got ourselves in this mess, we don’t want to make even worse by leaving it.

    Posted 10 Apr 2008 at 6:07 am

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