Time To Leave Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's recent statement about setting a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from his country is welcome news indeed. It is time to honor the will of the supposedly sovereign government of Iraq and that of the American people and do just that.

The litany of lies, misperceptions, false assumptions and mistakes that have characterized the misadventure in Iraq are well known by now. 4,116 brave Americans are dead. Over 30,000 have been wounded. Nearly a trillion dollars has been spent. Something like 100,000 Iraqis are dead. Some 2,000,000 Iraqis are refugees outside their country and probably as many more have been displaced within it.

All this was justified in the name of a military threat that was not there and a connection to the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 that did not exist. The true threat remains, however, and has reorganized in Afghanistan and Pakistan while our armed forces have foolishly been tied down in Iraq. This very occupation continues to inspire an ongoing flood of recruits for the standard bearers of Islamic extremism, for it confirms to them the propaganda they hear about America's intentions.

Nearly seven years after the 9/11 attacks the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan. It controls thousands of square miles of Afghan territory. Al-Qaeda's leadership is safe in Northwest Pakistan, and intelligence confirms its training camps are once again in operation.

It is time to take this opportunity to begin drawing down the force in Iraq. Al-Maliki's statement is good news. It indicates he feels the security situation in his country is such that he no longer needs the presence of US troops. Very well. Let's use them where they should have been all along.

Barack Obama today contibuted an article to the New York Times, reiterating his plan to remove one American brigade per month for the next 16 months until they are all out. A small residual force would remain to protect the American embassy and provide rapid reaction when necessary. He correctly states, "Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been." He proposes committing two additional brigades to Afghanistan, the place where our real enemies actually are, and setting aside $2 billion to help Iraqi refugees.

For years, President Bush has said, "When the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down." They are standing up now. It is not, as Sen. McCain keeps saying, "waving the white flag of surrender" to return control of its territory to a sovereign nation that asks us to leave so it can take care of its own security. It is, instead, simply sanity.