Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Omar blogging from Iraq on timing:
I could be wrong in my speculations but I think the right time to start negotiating the timetable between the US and Iraq will be after the formation of the new government that is to be elected next month; this government will certainly be a true representative of the people and will have the full authority of a government that will last for 4 years.
If this moves as I’m expecting here, we will deal a powerful blow to foreign terrorism and to dictatorships in the neighborhood that want to destroy Iraq.
Giving everyone the chance to have their say under the law will certainly isolate terrorism and consequently reduce its power but not ending it.
This all seems correct to me and has, as far as everything I've ever heard, been the plan all along. Get the Iraqi government running, let the engine warm a bit, train an Iraqi Army and police as fast as logically practicable, and let them take over as we cycle down. That's what makes the latest Democrat attacks such transparent opportunism, and at the risk of our troop's morale and lives as they encourage the terrorists to believe they are effective. They're not, but in order to score political points, the local loyal opposition is helping to make them look that way.
Someone decided that the Vietnam legacy has worked well for the Democrat Party and they need a renewal for the 21st Century -- the Vietnamization of Iraq.
Don't let them. The plan is still on.