Weekly Standard contributor Robert Kagan explains in today’s Washington Post.
The current discussion about drawing down American troops in Iraq — whether “immediately,” “rapidly” or “as soon as possible” — would be amusing were it not so dangerously divorced from reality. There could be no greater mistake than drawing down the U.S. force now, at a moment when there is real hope for success if the United States perseveres…. Talk of reductions and withdrawal is as unhelpful as it almost certainly is ephemeral. For 2 1/2 years, despite the endless promise of reductions, despite election battles, scandals and shifting political fortunes, the United States has maintained a steady force of 130,000 to 150,000 troops in Iraq. You can bet that the numbers will not be dramatically smaller a year from now or even two years from now. Wouldn’t we be better off, wouldn’t our prospects for success be greater, if we just admitted it? Better still, the administration could explain why it is so important to keep these troops in place so that the public understands the long road ahead. It could start taking steps to increase the overall size of the U.S. military so that the sustained deployment doesn’t “break” the Army. And it could stop making false promises of reductions that cannot and should not occur until Iraq is indeed secure and stable.
