US toes fine line in Iraq between quagmire and quick pullout

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040623/pl_afp/us_iraq_transition&cid=1521&ncid=1473

WASHINGTON (AFP) - With Iraq (news - web sites)'s return to sovereignty just a week away, the United States is looking beyond the June 30 deadline, trying to come up with an elaborate "exit strategy" that would allow it to avoid the double risk of being caught in a quagmire and withdrawing too quickly.


Thirty years after the end of the war in Vietnam, Washington is facing the same quandary: finding out the limits of its ability to rely on a fragile local government and forces to extricate itself from a distant conflict.


Two words evoking the conflict in Indochina have returned to the American lexicon: "quagmire" and "Iraqization", the latter reminding of the term "Vietnamization," which at the time of the Vietnam War emphasized reliance on local defense forces, presaging a US pullout and eventual defeat.


"There is a danger in going too fast as there is a danger in going too slow in handing over responsibilities," said Richard Murphy, a former undersecretary of state for the Near Eastern and South Asian affairs, who now works for the Council on Foreign Relations.

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[teryang]

1. The going too slow mistake is done and over

It was deliberate and the results of that policy choice are with us forever.

[demoman123]

6. The US will never leave Iraq until the oil is safe.

But the oil will never be safe. Hence the US will never leave Iraq.

[Geo55]

8. until the oil is safe."....and gone n/t

[Tommy_Douglas]

2. Its amazing...

Not so much that America will leave Iraq in defeat, but that Bush and his cronies will have taken over 160 billion out of your pockets for this war and nobody will ever hold them accountable.

[leftchick]

3. it is actually over 200 billion....

and it ain't over yet... :(

[Ernesto]

4. the neo-con's "We'll be greeted with flowers" didn't work

so why should rove's "June 30 hand-over"? The bush "lie-house" is occupied by Iraq.... the dumb bastards only wish that they had never set foot in that country... Remember all us Viet vets tried to tell the chickenhawks the facts of life, but they were soooo much smarter than us.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. I don't want to hear Bush* use any of ....

Nixon's "Peace with Honor" crap, either ... Dress a pig any way you want, it's still a pig. Bush* needs to cut and run, plain and simple. If he gets tagged the "Cut and Run" pResident, so be it. History will not be kind to this a**hole.

[fishnfla]

7. Lets just leave Iraq to the Iraqis already

They should have been more involved from the get-go.

Saigon took care of itself after we left, so will Bagdad

[Geo55]

9. Wake up folks

Do you honestly believe all the idealogical BS in regards to this hunk of scorched earth....everything I read in these forums acknowledge that BushCo never allows their TRUE intentions to be shown.
Oh , yes they're "empire building" and don't mean what they're spinning about Iraqi freedom & democracy.
Even Kerry won't pull out , though he's willing to cut in other folks unlike BushCo.
IT'S ABOUT THE OIL !!!
(unless you believe the earth elves are busy replacing this irreplacable energy that runs the world)

[SquireJons]

10. Straight From the Wolf's Mouth

Gosh, I'm so confused. <sarc>

The shrub administration - in force - has been talking a great deal about what a watershed June 30th will be. Why? Because it marks the return of Iraqi sovereignty.

But now wolfie says this about Iraq:

"But there is an end. The end is when Iraqis are governing their own country."

And at the same hearing said this:

"I can't tell you how long that's going to take," he told the House Armed Services Committee, drawing a comparison to Bosnia, where US troops are only now preparing to leave eight years after they were sent in for what was to be a one-year stay.

Sooooooo, I guess this talk about July 1st being the first day of the "New Democratic Iraq" is just a load of crap. Spewed from the mouths of every leading administration official.

I say, 'off with their heads.'

Where's Robespierre when we really need him.

[Ernesto]

11. the point is that the neo-con ocupation plan was a dissaster

With the polls showing their PR failure, the rovian "lie-house" strategy is to modify the failed PINAC plan because of the looming Nov. election..... However getting out is not as simple as going in. Now that the chimp has proven himself as the biggest liar on earth, his life has turned to shit. He has no political capital left & he has "a tiger by tail". He surly wants out of the quagmire, but there is no exit door for him... To put it bluntly: the chimp is FUCKED... And deservedly so.