Yes, Virginia, we DO need an exit strategy!

[LuckyTheDog]

First, you need a PLAN.

The right likes to bring up WWII as if analogous to the Iraq war. From there they think all they have to say is "victory is the plan!"

But, let's think that through, shall we?

D-Day didn't just "happen." VE Day and VJ Day didn't come to us because we "stayed the course." Victory was defined and then planned for.

Real leaders don't sit and hope for the best. They decide their goals, determine a strategy and then work on tactics for implementing a strategy.

In WWII, we knew what we wanted: unconditional surrender. We also knew how we wanted to get there. N Africa first, the Europe, then Asia. AND, we had a plan for post-war Germany and Japan -- an exit strategy, if you will -- which was executed.

Hence, the war ended. The troops we have in those places now are there to defend those nations against outside threats -- not to fight an insurgency. We are there as allies, not occupiers.

Iraq is a very different kind of conflict. Thus, our plan there needs to be very different. But the NEED for a solid plan should not even be in dispute.

Yes, Virginia, we DO need an exit strategy.

[uppityperson]

1. We need to keep fighting until there is no one left.

agreed that we need more of a plan than that.
(edted to clarify, sorry, and replied below too.)

[LuckyTheDog]

2. Sarcasm?

My post was a plea for establishing achievable goals in Iraq and getting the hell out.

[uppityperson]

3. yes. I want plans, we need plans beyond this plan that they have

their plan is what I said, I want a real plan. Achievable goals beyond "fighting the war on terror" which has no goal, no end, no way to measure anything.