i have the exit strategy for iraq ! stop the presses !

[Undercutter]

no seriously, stop the presses.

ok, so, the iraq elections are early next year. we should tell the new iraqi government that if they need help and protection they should ask us to stay, so that it is clear that we are not occupyers, but a force staying in an arab country at the request of arab government. we should also make sure that there is a range of candidates campaigning for iraqi government that campaign on the platform that if they are elected they will ask all american forces to leave immediately. isn't that the best exit strategy - to be asked to leave ?


powell conceded that if iraqi government asks us to leave, we will leave (for which statement he was slammed by conservative media outlets , but he doesn't think that will happen... of course that will not happend if we don't let anti-american elements to have any say in politics over there, so that they have to resort to killing to make their point.


do you think that would be a good position for kerry to emphasize as well, as the only possible exit strategy? after all it took terrorist attacks on saudi arabia for moderate arabs over there to wake up and start treating al quada as an actual threat, this needs to be formed as a conflict of terrorists vs legitimate iraq as opposed to terrorists vs americans.


actually when you frame the question that way, I don't think that there is any doubt that we will be asked to leave right after the election. From what we know about muslim mentality over there it would be a political suicide for any arab leader to actually ask us to stay in the arab country, so all we need is to give them this option, and we are out of there, whooo-hoooo. And, if by some miracle they actually do ask us to stay, that still makes the situation a lot better for the reasons i outlined above. after all, there is this silent majority of iraqis that haven't had a chance to be heard yet, so once the election comes along, nobody knows what kind of ideology the new government will have.

this is all wishful thinking of course. with bush in charge it is assured that we will try to shut out everybody out of politics who are not rabidly pro-american (since they still need 'training wheels'), although there is a chance that such an approach will implode on their heads :)

i just wonder how kerry is going to treat this election if he is the president, i think i remember him saying that al sadr is a legitimate voice in iraqi politics.

[ewagner]

1. Key Point in Powell's statement

was that he didn't think or couldn't imagine that the transitional government would ask us to leave.

Wrong!

That's the whole exit strategy.

The government appointed by Brahimi will immediately turn around and ask us to leave and Bush and Powell will agree.

[Undercutter]

3. no

neocons don't want to leave iraq. they are terrified of the prospect that the iraqis will actually ask us to leave, and will do everything in their power to prevent that, they couldn't care less what the iraqis really want (just like they were terrified that powell might make diplomacy work while they were gearing up for war). they want an american foothold in the middle east and they will accept nothing less.

dude, we are buiding bunch of expensive bases in iraq right now for our troops to stay in, i don't think bush is planning to pull out

[malatesta1137]

2. the only exit strategy

is to get out of Iraq right now and repay billions and billions in damage. Then compensate families billions and billions of dollars for the deaths, torture and humiliation. The Federal Reserve printers would not be able to produce the amount in 1,000 years.

And then pray that 1,000 more terrorist attacks, which would make 9/11 seem like a picnic, do not happen on American soil.

[countmyvote4real]

4. And taxpayers get to pay for it again even though we can't be

compensated for our losses and lives spent on *'s folly. * family and all current administration leaders should pay for the restitution. They can do it with their book royalties, just like common criminals.