HOW TO CUT AND RUN - By William E. Odom

[kpete]

How to cut and run
We could lead the Mideast to peace, but only if we stop refusing to do the right thing
By William E. Odom, Lt. Gen. WILLIAM E. ODOM (Ret.) is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a professor at Yale University.
October 31, 2006


THE UNITED STATES upset the regional balance in the Middle East when it invaded Iraq. Restoring it requires bold initiatives, but "cutting and running" must precede them all. Only a complete withdrawal of all U.S. troops — within six months and with no preconditions — can break the paralysis that now enfeebles our diplomacy. And the greatest obstacles to cutting and running are the psychological inhibitions of our leaders and the public.

Our leaders do not act because their reputations are at stake. The public does not force them to act because it is blinded by the president's conjured set of illusions: that we are reducing terrorism by fighting in Iraq; creating democracy there; preventing the spread of nuclear weapons; making Israel more secure; not allowing our fallen soldiers to have died in vain; and others.

But reality can no longer be avoided. It is beyond U.S. power to prevent bloody sectarian violence in Iraq, the growing influence of Iran throughout the region, the probable spread of Sunni-Shiite strife to neighboring Arab states, the eventual rise to power of the anti-American cleric Muqtada Sadr or some other anti-American leader in Baghdad, and the spread of instability beyond Iraq. All of these things and more became unavoidable the day that U.S. forces invaded.

These realities get worse every day that our forces remain in Iraq. They can't be wished away by clever diplomacy or by leaving our forces in Iraq for several more years.

more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-odom31oct31,0,4260170.story?coll=la-home-commentary

[many a good man]

1. "We must cut and run tactically in order to succeed strategically."

"The United States needs to restore its reputation so that its capacity to lead constructively will cost us less."

Yup.

[elocs]

2. There has not been a successful military in the history of the world

which has not engaged in a strategic retreat. We have done it in all of our wars to one degree or another. "Cut and run" is the latest negative turn of the phrase for what any intelligent military would call a strategic retreat.