Backtalk: Think before we redeploy

Think before we redeploy
By Rep. Neil Abercrombie

We can’t simply wish our armed forces home from Iraq — and we can’t leave them there indefinitely.

There is broad agreement that thoughtful planning is needed for the eventual redeployment of our troops. Yet most people are unclear about the feasibility of redeploying more than 160,000 troops, support personnel and equipment out of a hostile country.

Some argue that strategic redeployment is too slow. Others want to “stay the course” and claim that such redeployment plans are pointless.

But redeployment is a complex military operation demanding serious thought and planning, especially if we have forces under fire or caught between factions in a civil war.

One hundred and eighty-one House Republicans have joined 169 Democrats to pass legislation that would require the Bush administration to report to Congress on its planning for redeployment from Iraq.

The companion measure was quickly introduced in the Senate by Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and also has solid bipartisan support.


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