A question for General Clark supporters:

[More Than A Feeling]

When I read this:

Change the course in Iraq. Democrats must pressure George W. Bush to listen to the generals on the ground and the whole range of experts -- not just the GOP -- on how to change the course in Iraq. We must work with regional powers, promote gradual transformation and stability, and regain the 'strategic consent' for the long-term U.S. influence in the region. We must use the situation in Iraq to propel us toward this larger goal, and in doing so, we will also find the right way to wind down our deployment there.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/blog/32

it didn't seem like an clear answer to the question: Where does General Clark stand on withdrawing the troops from Iraq? Can anyone offer me any insight?

I support withdrawing the troops yesterday, and I'm wondering how close General Clark is to that position.

[InternalDialogue]

1. Dig a little deeper into his site:

http://securingamerica.com/node/1017

Clark: Begin troop withdrawals
May 25, 2006

[More Than A Feeling]

2. Thank you!

That helps.

[Selatius]

3. I think Gen. Clark would follow a similar path followed for Yugoslavia

When that nation broke apart, the UN came in to help broker ceasefire negotiations with the help of NATO and the US. Once the fighting stopped, new borders were drawn up that everybody found acceptable. I think Iraq is breaking apart, and we may have to do something similar in response.

[msongs]

5. serbia does not find the new borders "acceptable" nt

[FrenchieCat]

8. Considering that the Serbs lost the war.....I guess not! However,

considering everything, the many wars, much bloodshed, and a history of unrest (200,000 died in Bosnia alone) the new borders are as acceptable to as many as possible under the circumstances! In the end, it's about diplomacy and negotiation......and that means the ones who lost the war don't get all that they would like. Think about it.

[Selatius]

10. Frenchie Cat echoes my sentiments

The Serb government may not find it "acceptable," but given the circumstances, those borders represent a compromise. If the Serbs didn't acquiesce, there would still be thousands dying there today because somebody didn't want to make compromises.

[madrchsod]

4. 'strategic consent"

an intelligent plan for the us role in the middle east but the devil is in the details

[Bucky]

6. "Wind down our deployment" is the only sane approach to withdrawal.

It's not like you could just call up Iraqi airlines on January 21st 2009 and order 140,000 business class tickets. You have to pull out in a way that doesn't leave those poor people open to more looting and chaos. Hell, if Cindy Sheehan and Noam Chomsky were elected to the White House in a special election tomorrow a phased, gradual withdrawal is what they'd ask for.

"Pull them out yesterday" is gratifying to say, but hardly a sane tactic on the ground. We opposed the war because it would get lots of people killed who wouldn't otherwise die. I can hardly think any Democrat would support a withdrawal that doesn't minimize the inevitable violence that will accompany such a pull out.

[More Than A Feeling]

7. The problem with gradual withdrawal:

It leaves those soldiers not at the front of the line to leave even more vulnerable, as the numbers decrease.

[FrenchieCat]

9. They'd be redeployed to the perifery.....most likely on the borders

where they are needed the most. It will be dangerous, but if Clark was at the helm, it could be done. Keep in mind that while the redeployment is going on, the political and economic part of what's required would need to be getting done as well. It is not just a military solution that is needed according to Clark (and not all of those who parrots what he has been saying since 2003). I believe that it could be done, with the right people calling the shots.....nut it will be harder to do by those who copies everyone's ideas (Clark's) and are not original "out of the box" thinkers.

Who do you think came up with the "Iraq study groups" plan to negotiate/talk to Syria and Iran? they stole that from Wes Clark....although I'm sure he doesn't mind, if it will help. This would also defuse the situation we are now facing with Iran......solve more than one problem at the time.

The Europeans have been our interlocutors with Iran, but that hasn't been enough. Republican Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Luger has been calling for the U.S. to negotiate directly with Iran. Democrat Joe Biden has been calling for the same. Last September at a conference I helped organize, General Wesley Clark began the drumbeat calling for direct contact with Iran. It seemed the least we could do before unleashing a wave of bombers.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29624