House report proposes troop withdrawal plan

[struggle4progress]

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | January 22, 2005

WASHINGTON -- A new congressional report lays out a step-by-step argument for withdrawing ''the vast majority" of American troops from Iraq within 12 to 18 months, adding to a growing chorus of members of both parties for President Bush to abort the occupation.

The report, scheduled to be released Tuesday, was drafted by Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat and senior member of the oversight panel. The plan calls for reducing the American troop presence in Iraq from 150,000 to as few as 30,000 by the middle of next year. <snip>

''The open-ended presence of US forces has likely done more to inflame the insurgency than defeat it," concludes the 38-page report entitled, ''Iraq: Light at the End of the Tunnel," a copy of which was provided to the Globe. ''Suspicion about our motives undermines the leaders who cooperate with us and endangers average Iraqis who are seen as participating in institutions that are linked to the occupation."

Two weeks ago, former secretary of state James A. Baker became the latest member of the Republican foreign policy establishment to call for a phased withdrawal of US troops after the scheduled Jan. 30 Iraqi elections. An Edward N. Luttwak, an intellectual guru to many of the Bush administration's proponents of war, has written an article for the latest issue of the influential Foreign Affairs magazine headlined, ''Withdraw Now." <snip>

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/01/22/house_report_proposes_troop_withdrawal_plan/

[roguevalley]

1. withdraw them to Kuwait and point them into Iran.

[struggle4progress]

2. It sounds like you've been following W's jolly antics.

:puke: