The US Needs an Iraq Exit Strategy

"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
--Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy."
--Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush

I couldn't agree more. So what's the hold up Mr. Bush?

One question I hear often about Iraq is: "Should the US send more troops?"

I've been saying for sometime without a timetable with benchmarks and approximate dates the mission in Iraq is doomed to failure. (Whatever that mission is. No one seems to know what the mission is anymore.) Without an exit strategy and milestone-goals to achieve that exit strategy suggesting more troops is a waste. If more troops will allow the US to reduce the violence, turn over the country and security duties to Iraqis, and allow a complete pullout of US troops by lets say January 2006 then OK but let's see the exit strategy.

Unless you have well understood goals and objectives that you can hold people to, you'll never get anything done. We need firm targets and timelines in Iraq to have any chance of success there.

Asking for the number of troops to be increased, without a timemarker-plan to eventually decrease troops is a waste in my opinion. A policy of writing blank checks and essentially throwing money in a hole with NO END IN SIGHT is something I can not support. Pulling out immediately is folly but staying without any real plan or goal date as to when to leave is worse in my opinion. The longer we stay and there is no estimate date for complete (or mostly complete) pullout the more public support for this war will erode. We saw it during Vietnam and we're seeing it now in Iraq.