Iraq withdraw

The ranks of those calling for the United States to withdraw from Iraq are growing in important circles, military leadership. The LA Times reports that

The U.S. generals running the war in Iraq presented a new assessment of the military situation in public comments and sworn testimony this week: The 149,000 U.S. troops currently in Iraq are increasingly part of the problem.

During a trip to Washington, the generals said the presence of U.S. forces was fueling the insurgency, fostering an undesirable dependency on American troops among the nascent Iraqi armed forces and energizing terrorists across the Middle East.

For all these reasons, they said, a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops was imperative.

This has long been the view of numerous people on the political left, including both civilian and military voices. It has been primarily the civilian right wing in this country that have made the great mistake of calling for this war. It is becoming increasing clear that those who are calling for some sort of plan for gradual withdraw are correct. Those voices need to be listened to.