[tlj009]

That time table shouldn't be 50 to 100 years as John McCain is proposing.

I really don't like politicians but the only time that I have only heard McCain say something about 50-100 years was a few months back. From then on people have taken it out of context and used it to mean that we would be fighting like we are today for 100 years and it would be OK to McCain. That is not what he said. He spoke of possibly having a presence there but that is a little different then what you are talking about in a timetable for withdrawal.

[Mattlock]

What is wrong with an overnight pull-out? I'm not disagreeing, I'm just ignorant.

[JerryLove]

Originally Posted by Mattlock

What is wrong with an overnight pull-out? I'm not disagreeing, I'm just ignorant.

Literally overnight? You leave an exposed flank during your pull-out that makes you ripe for getting mowed down.

In the olden days, when two armys met on a field, the goal was to get the other army ot flee. Why? Because face-to-face a battle of attirtion would cost the winner tremendously and was nigh-impossible to really achieve. When, however, the other side "broke the line" you could massacre them.

As to the "very quick, but not overnight" pullout. The concern is leaving a power vacuum. Many processes within Iraq depend on US millitary involvement. The government could not take the sudden strain and would likely collapse.

Whether this is acutally worse for the US than staying in is not certain. Iraq is a breeding ground for terrorists, but no more so than Pakistan, Somalia, or a dozen other spots on the map. It's agrued, but not certain that terrorism in Iraq would export (It's possible it would not), and even if it did: it's possible that defending the homeland would be far more productive (fewer lives lost) than fighting an enemy on their own soil.

You want to fight a cave bear... do you go in the cave to "prevent him from coming to you", or do you fight on your terrain?

[slap_j]

Originally Posted by JerryLove

You want to fight a cave bear... do you go in the cave to "prevent him from coming to you", or do you fight on your terrain?

Do I have any thermobaric explosives?

[Qingu]

Originally Posted by Mattlock

What is wrong with an overnight pull-out? I'm not disagreeing, I'm just ignorant.

In addition to what Jerry said, it's also logistically impossible, as I understand it.

We have way, way too many human beings, vehicles, weapons, and other hardware on the ground in Iraq to move in a period of less than several months, let alone overnight. That stuff has to be transported physically.

[Qingu]

Originally Posted by JerryLove

Whether this is acutally worse for the US than staying in is not certain. Iraq is a breeding ground for terrorists, but no more so than Pakistan, Somalia, or a dozen other spots on the map. It's agrued, but not certain that terrorism in Iraq would export (It's possible it would not), and even if it did: it's possible that defending the homeland would be far more productive (fewer lives lost) than fighting an enemy on their own soil.

This is also where some sort of arrangement with Iran would be incredibly lucrative. Iran hates al-Qaeda more than they hate us. So does al-Sadr, and so does the Shi'ite coalition government and many Sunni groups as well.

We might have to accept that many these groups would be ruthless in dealing with al-Qaeda and would likely impose Shariah law. But then, the majority of Iraqis seem to want Shariah law, so if we're serious about "spreading democracy" then we might as well accept it.

[Chrysostom]

Originally Posted by Qingu

In addition to what Jerry said, it's also logistically impossible, as I understand it.

We have way, way too many human beings, vehicles, weapons, and other hardware on the ground in Iraq to move in a period of less than several months, let alone overnight. That stuff has to be transported physically.

This is where I think there might be a market for my Star-Trek-inspired teleportation device. It's even cooler than a Segway, believe me.