Bombs, Heat, Vietnam Lessons May Prolong Iraq Exit

I have heard that if is no longer a question of IF and WHEN but HOW to get out. (of course the if and when comes first!--)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070727/pl_bloomberg/anvevbppfwns;_ylt=AlC2pfU6aslSIwYfrGmFmVms0NUE

Bombs, Heat, Vietnam Lessons May Prolong Iraq Exit

Ken Fireman Fri Jul 27, 12:49 PM ET

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon, under pressure to start planning for an Iraq withdrawal whether it begins in two months or two years, may find that getting out will take a lot longer than getting in.


U.S. troops will have to contend with terrorist bombs, wilting heat, dangerous roads and logistical logjams that even critics of the war say will make a rapid pullout impossible.

``I thought it would take six months,'' said Representative John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who first advocated withdrawal in 2005. ``I found out since then it will take longer than that, the footprint is so much bigger.''

Calls are building in Congress and among Democratic presidential candidates for a drawdown of U.S. forces and for the Pentagon to begin planning how to do it. Two senior Republican senators, John Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar of Indiana, want to see such a plan by Oct. 16. and Democrats such as Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, a candidate for president, also have raised the issue.

.......Sectarian Lines

Retired U.S. Army General Barry McCaffrey, one of the top ground commanders of the 1991 Persian Gulf war, said the dangers of a ``precipitous'' withdrawal done in nine months or less would be substantial.

``It would be a scene of unimaginable chaos, with millions of refugees fleeing the country, and Iraqis who had supported us following our columns going south,'' said McCaffrey, who commanded an infantry division.

As the Iraqi army splintered along sectarian lines, U.S. commanders would be reluctant to turn over equipment to a fractured force and would destroy it instead, McCaffrey said. That in turn would anger Iraqi soldiers.

``They wouldn't be throwing roses in our path,'' he said. ``They'd be shooting at us the entire way.''

These risks could be reduced by a longer timeline for a withdrawal, McCaffrey and other military experts said. A more measured pace of 20 to 24 months would allow for expanded planning -- and time for the Iraqi army to improve its combat capability, which would increase the chances for a smooth pullout.

Standing Guard

There are now 2 million Iraqi refugees, and 1 million "internal" refugees. If the good general has paid any attention to what's going on now, the country is in chaos. The "democratically elected" regime is still in power only because of the American military propping it up.

This is all so horribly reminiscent of the "peace with honor" plans of Nixon and the military back in that other lost war.

tomorrow if possible, but no it is not "bullshit" that even if we started leaving today, it is going to take quite awhile to pack up all that equipment, SAFELY ship it down the ONE, LONG highway to Kuwait, all the while balancing things by keeping enough combat/protective troops around to defend the withdrawal.

It's hard enough moving 150K people in peacetime halfway around the world, now do it with billions of dollars of equipment and being shot at the whole way.

flying in circles over Baghdad 24/7. If our troops get attacked on the way out, Baghdad will be carpet bombed. It's *'s style.

is that it doesn't happen when he's in office.

Was that ever even a question?

Something for the "out now" folks to think of: the time to extract our troops is extended considerably by the need to do such things as a) clean equipment thoroughly to avoid creating an environmental disaster by bringing non-native lifeforms back here; b) the need to leave camps in a decent state rather than just dropping everything where it is and letting Iraqis deal with environmental problems (not to mention other problems, if you leave live arms and ammunitions)... and so forth.

This was never ever going to be easy and I was concerned when my Congressman backed off his original "it'll take a year" to agree to a 6-month deadline. I think he is back to "we really need a year" now, but is considering options to make it shorter.

Oh, and I consider myself an "out now" person too - but by "out now" I mean start the process NOW.

Sorry guys, you're going to need to pick a spot and dig your grave. They're telling us there's no way out of Iraq. They'd like to help us get you home, but--they say there's just no way and they're the experts and they're awful sorry. So...start digging.

(Like in Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel, we are under some kind of magic spell that prevents us from leaving by the same door we came in)