The American Spectator

Another Perspective

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* Endstate is free and secure Iraq

p>* Acceptable increase in troops in Iraq: br> - Creates security in Baghdad by Fall '07 br> - Creates options for future operations in Iraq /p> /blockquote> br> It's important to have those benchmarks -- "Fall '07." That gives us a sense of progress. But wait a minute -- "future operations in Iraq"? What does that mean? Does it suggest we're going to be there for a long, long time? Perhaps to take on Iran as well? p>Oh well, let's move on. We'll take questions later. Next slide please: br> /p>

Success is Possible

* Success is compatible with a volunteer military

* Proposal will not break the Army or the Marines

* Dramatic improvements in Iraq can occur in one year

* It does not require unacceptable bargains with hostile regimes."

br> The last is the important one. It says we can ignore the Iraq Study Group's suggestion that we try to bring other Middle Eastern powers into the process and just can handle things ourselves. That's made clear in Slide 7: br>

Other Approaches Will Fail

* Iran and Syria support violence in Iraq, but do not control it

* Negotiating with Iran and Syria will not stop violence

* Training Iraqi units takes too long -- violence is accelerating beyond the ability of the Iraqi military to control

br> There's certainly enough violence in Iraq right now. Fortunately for us, most of it is

topics:
Islam, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran