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America can no longer tolerate the Bush administration's failed "stay as long as it takes" approach to the war in Iraq. It is time for Congress to demand and for George W. Bush to deliver a clear, concrete plan.
As a first critical step in that direction, I am calling on the Bush administration to respond to the completion of December elections in Iraq by withdrawing 20,000 troops over the holidays.
The way forward in Iraq is not to pull out precipitously or merely promise to "stay as long as it takes." To undermine the insurgency, we have to simultaneously pursue both a political settlement and the withdrawal of American combat forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks.
The draw down of troops should be tied not to an arbitrary timetable, but to a specific timetable for transfer of political and security responsibility to Iraqis and realignment of our troop deployment. That timetable must be real and strict. The goal should be to withdraw the bulk of American combat forces by the end of 2006.
If George W. Bush refuses to produce a concrete plan for Iraq, then, at the start of 2006, we will demand that Congress acts to take the decision out of his hands. And, if the Republican Congress fails to call the Bush administration to account, we will use the 2006 elections to take the decision out of their hands. We won't stop until we succeed.
Dr. Love's Edit: Removed blue font and returned the thread mostly to the state the OP requested. Left the text in for those too lazy to read it.
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