The Surge Has Failed; No Residual Troops

On Wednesday, in a desperate attempt to shore up support for his failed "surge" strategy, President Bush compared a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to America's withdrawal at the end of the Vietnam War. The president is wrong. We don't need anymore troop surges, we need a diplomatic surge.

We must get all our troops out of Iraq as soon as possible.

In 1968, Richard Nixon ran on a platform of ending the war with honor. It took 7 years to get the last American soldier out of Vietnam. In the meantime, tens of thousands more Americans died. Countless civilians died in Vietnam, in Cambodia and the killing fields, and millions more ultimately had to flee their homes.

Dragging out the process of withdrawal will be tragically worse in terms of U.S. lives lost and in terms of the instability we will create by staying longer.

We have now been in Iraq longer than it took to win World War II. My plan for Iraq ends the war with the fewest possible U.S. casualties and it moves the Iraqis' reconciliation process forward. My position has been consistent and unwavering.

We have to get all of our troops out as quickly and safely as possible and leave no residual troops behind.

Some say that all of the Democratic presidential candidates have the same position on Iraq. I strongly disagree.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have all proposed leaving residual troops in Iraq indefinitely, which will only drag out the process to the detriment of all involved.

I would pull ALL of our troops out -- they have become targets, and only a complete withdrawal makes sense.

That means no airbases, no embedded soldiers training Iraqi forces, no troops in the Green Zone. Zero troops. I would leave the customary marine contingent at our Embassy, but if that became unsafe, then I'd bring them home too. Only then can the diplomatic process of reconciliation and reconstruction truly begin, and the US must lead the way in making it happen.

On Sunday, at the ABC debate in Iowa, I asked the other candidates directly: how many troops would you leave behind? 25,000? 50,000? 75,000? For how long?

I am still waiting for an answer.

Comments

[1will]

Every news service in this country has carried stories about the successes of "The Surge."
Maybe you should read something besides The Huffingtonpost. Even CNN has had stories of our former enemies in Iraq joining us to kill Al Quaida members.
Any success in Iraq is detrimental to the Democratic party in this country.

[ProgressivePartisan]

CNN. Yep, there is your 'hard hittin', 'get to the truth' news source for sure. Yeah ... great track record they have of distancing themselves from the 'decider'. Sheeesh!!!!

[kjg25171]

Imagine a totally out of control classroom. The teacher calls for help and security and the principal come in. Immediately, the students settle down. Would you say the surge has worked? The real test is what happens when the principal and security leave.

Don't be naive. We will not know if the surge is working until after we draw down.

[Ladyrantsalot]

2 million Iraqi refugees are too afraid to return to their homes. This woosie increase of 28,000 troops (that is to say, returning the troop levels to what they were in March 2005, when everything was totally unravelling) was never intended to solve anything except to keep the provincial Rubepublican base on board for the duration. Li'l man's spurty spurt helps right wing Rubes think they are "solving" things. But the insurgents have merely moved on to other territories as the US, once again, claims victory in spurthdad. 30% of Americans are conned by these tactics, and the civil war drags on and on. Yep. little fellow, victory is just around the corner, then the next corner, then the next corner (and if anyone says we're going 'round in circles, wah, thay're just supportin' th'turrrists.

[mamacat]

Does anyone remember what happened when we tried using a troop surge in Vietnam? After the Tet Offensive we eventually put over 500,000 troops in the country, and we had constant air raids from Thailand and Guam, and from aircraft carriers offshore.
As long as we were willing to keep enough soldiers on the ground, and planes in the air, we were able to demonstrate that we were the biggest and strongest guys on that block. The trouble was, and is, that the people in the country did not/do not want us there, no matter how big our troop surge got/gets. The lessons from Vietnam are obvious to everyone except to those who ignore history, or were too drunk avoiding their national gaurd meetings to witness history.

[dartagnan]

LOL! Good post, Ladyrants. I especially like "Rubepubli­can." I think I'll steal ... er, borrow it.

[Boadicea]

1will, you're leaving out some important qualifiers.

Yes, the increased troop levels in areas of Baghdad have reduced violence in those areas. Unfortunately, the violent folks have just moved to different areas of Iraq, and are now killing an even larger number of their fellow citizens.

Net result - increased deaths. CNN is also reporting that part, by the way.

And both Obama and Clinton have recognized the mixed effects of the troop shuffle.

[dartagnan]

The "success" of the surge amounts to reduced violence in about 10 square miles of Anbar Province -- in a country of more than 169,000 square miles.

Smirky McChimp is just trying to run out the clock until his term is over (God hasten the day!) and he can hand the mess over to a (probably Democratic) successor.

[ChristinDemocrat]

I know this is going to hurt but here it is.

Genesis 16

And Ishmeal shall be a wild man. His hand shall be against all nations and all nations shall be against his hand.

Lebanon is in a constant state of war. Iran and Syria are not happy ever. Iraq is a nation of wild men why?

Genesis 16

And Ishmeal shall be a wild man. His hand shall be against all nations and all nations shall be against his hand.

Can we fight against God because Iraq legislature is getting ready to hand over there oil reserves to Exxon for the next 30 years?

[Boadicea]

I'm just not understanding what you're trying to say, I'm sorry. Could you try again with less from the Bible and more from you?

[dartagnan]

He's saying the Arabs are descended from Ishmael, the eldest son of Abraham and Sarah's handmaiden, Hagar. This is a doctrine that Arabs and Jews both believe. After Sarah herself conceived and bore another son, Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael were sent into exile by Abraham. The Arabs regard Ishmael as the rightful heir of Abraham; the Jews regard Isaac as the rightful heir.

[rwe2late]

Mr. Richardson
Agreed.
All the spin about what a great favor we are doing the Iraqis by occupying their country is shameful.

[beachglass]

Dear Gov.,

Get your message across loud and clear continually so this nation hears you. If you stay away from the other candidates rhetoric and all this flip-flopping going on...you'l­l get on the ticket, I believe.

It's because you are right as rain that the people will listen to you.

So, get on more shows, keep it simple and true like you do and believe in us the way you believe in yourself.
You are already a winner. You also have some pretty good supporters, I hear.

Good luck and keep sharing the wisdom and confidance that we will get through this withdrawl.

You can win. We need a leader like yourself, not a superficial easily blind-sided putz like many candidates are proving out to be...
Thank you for hearing me out.

[WorkingClass]

I honestly don't understand why Richardson isn't the Democrats front runner. He is more qualified AND more electable that Clinton, Obama or Edwards. He says he will end the occupation of Iraq. Period. Isn't that what you want? What's not to like? Is there a problem with his green card?

Here’s what I think. If Richardson was for sale he would BE the front runner. What do you think. Y’al Democrats need to talk among yourselves. You don't have to let the media pick your candidate. I’m just trying to help. If you can stand in front of your mirror and say - What's good for Bull Moose is good for the country. - Then vote for Hillary. Otherwise your obvious choice is Richardson.

[Boadicea]

Hmmm. Now there's an interesting post. I wonder what you think about the Republican candidates? Did McCain lose ground because he's not for sale? I wonder.

I think Richardson is not a frontrunner because he has very little time available to devote to the campaign. He appears to be putting his state's welfare before his primary campaign. This hurts both his fundraising and his poll numbers. I mean, compare that to Edwards, who has had no other job but campaigning for president for over two years now.

[US55588144]

Richardson has had the worst showing in the debates. I'm surprised he hasn't dropped out.

[mamacat]

Thank You Governor Richardson!!!
Regarding Pres. Bush's saying pulling out of Iraq will cause more casualties, like it did in Vietnam, Pres. Bush has it all wrong, as usual.
A quick google search shows that the result of our military assistance in Vietnam, besides the 58,000 plus dead Americans, was at least 1,000,000 dead enemy combatants, and about 4,000,000 dead Vietnamese civilians, and of course untold injured. So, Mr. President, explain to me again how our pulling out caused needless Vietnamese deaths!!!
A question: Governor Richardson, if you are elected President, do you think the military under your leadership would be able to kill or capture Osama, something Bush hasn't been able to do in the 6 years since 9/11?

[1will]

You're right. I can't understand how Bush could say pulling out of Vietnam caused needless deaths.
I don't know what all of those Vietnamese Boat People were thinking when they risked their lives trying to flee. Everyone knows ice cream and cake awaited them at home and the NVA and Viet Cong only carried weapons because they looked cool.

[Dap]

1will go out front, your bus is there, they're taking you to the zoo today.

[Ladyrantsalot]

1will, you need to inform yourself about the Indochinese war. The VC and Khmer Rouge are responsible for their own atrocities, but our 10-year-long struggle there exacerbated the problems tremendously. E.g. Cambodians were not attracted to the Khmer Rouge until the CIA helped the arch-incompetent Lon Nol overthrow the popular Sihanouk and then the US carpet-bombed their villages, killing approximately 800,000 peasants and creating 2 million Cambodian refugees. Only under the magic of our secret war in Cambodia did the Khmer Rouge take off; no one who understands SE Asian history and politics thinks that the Khmer Rouge would have taken control if not for the US secret war in Cambodia. Bush does not understand these things (he was too drunk and too desperate to stay out of the war to look) and neither do you.

[Boadicea]

1will, your point is well taken, although your sarcastic tone of voice seems somehow misplaced in a very civilized thread....

It's true, many, many Vietnamese died when we left. There's no way to sugarcoat that. But it's near impossible to state unequivocally that they would not have died had we stayed another year, two more years, five more years, ten more years...

What is absolutely certain is that we stopped the deaths of our own young men. There comes a time when we, as Americans, have to put our own interests first. We'd lost more than enough of our best and brightest, and it was time to cut our losses.

A better strategy for us is to not get into these situations in the first place. Those that led us into Iraq, Democrats and Republicans alike, should not be given more leadership.

[frost]

Governor Richardson is right..

we can and must leave Iraq.. totally completely and without residual forces left behind.. and it can be done in 6 months.. as a veteran of 10 years in the Marine Corps I found that leadership means making a decision and following through..

Hillary will NOT leave Iraq.. she will lie and make excuses and in the end do nothing more than George W Bush has done..

I say NO to Hillary Bush..

I will NOT vote for you Hillary.. under any circumstan­ces..

the best candidates for this country are Al Gore and or John Edwards..

I would be proud to see Richardson working within the White House and I would happily accept him as President.­. but I honestly believe that the powers that be.. want Hillary so they can keep screwing us over and turning this country into just another third world country where our children make shoes for 10 cents a day.. well I say NO.. NO Hillary.. NO Hillary Bush..

vote for real change not mores lies and promises made till the votes come in then forgetfulness of what those promises are..

America needs health care for all Americans.­.

America needs trade that is fair to Americans.­.

America needs the truth and not corruption which is what Republicans always bring..

America is now heading for recession under George W. Bush, and what we need is fiscal leadership­...

[Ladyrantsalot]

P.s. As long as I'm giving you advice, please stop using the term "surge." It never was a surge. Using "surge" makes people think that Dumbya actually did something this year--for better or worse. Adding 28,000 troops was never going to accomplish any of our goals in Iraq. Millions of Iraqi refugees are still too afraid to return home as the Shiite and Sunni ethnic cleansers continue to do their work under the auspices of the US military. Stop calling it the "surge." It's a "spurt;" only an advocate of Republican "small" government would think the spurt is a surge.

[Dap]

The Truth-In-Fact is it was not a surge or a spurt, it was a temper-tantrum by the Sociopath-In-Chief to show he's the decider, it was clearly a contrarian reaction to the 2006 election results, and against those who oppose this madness.

Make *No* mistake about that part!

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

Governor.
Will you repeal the patriot act and the military commissions act?

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

Governor, we would like to know if
A.)you plan to hold those accountable for this illegal and immoral war?

B.)Would you help lead the charge in the indictment and conviction of this current administration and ALL involved in ALL of the illegal acts committed during its reign?
If the answer is yes,
When could we see this happen? Date certain please, because we will certainly be there!

Ron Paul will not answer these questions, and we are constituents. He has written us a letter in response to a letter we wrote a few months ago about Why he did not sign the resolution to Impeach Chenney.
His answer to us was "the speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi has said this is off the table".
That was his reason to us for not signing on to it....The house leader from the other side of the aisle has said its off the table!!!??­?...

C.)Do you support impeachment? If not WHY?

Chris Dodd said the other day, when asked by Iraq war vets, Impeachment proceedings would jeopardize the '08 elections.­..Is this how you feel?

We are both still registered Democrats, by the way.
Thank you in advance for your response.

[TheMisfortuneTeller]

As a victim/veteran of the Nixon-Kissinger Fig Leaf Contingent (Vietnam 1970-1972), I would remind my fellow exasperated Americans that the U. S. Army and Marine Corps pulled off a classic rapid withdrawal under intensive fire from the mountains of North Korea over half a century ago. If our forces could accomplish such a remarkably well-plann­ed-and-exe­cuted feat in that kind of rugged, inhospitable terrain -- with thousands of Chinese swarming all over their collective asses -- then our bloated, bureaucratic bunglers today can stage another one of their photo-op tank races out through the wide open deserts of Iraq. (Haliburton and the Blackwater mercenaries can fend for themselves). Our photogenic, Powerpoint professionals could even bring along another crop of "embedded" pundit propagandists to chronicle their exploits as our F-Troopers "advance to the rear." The Iraqis would probably finally throw us that parade Paul Wolfowitz promised so many thousands of dead G.I.s ago.
Of, course, the U. S. Military today doesn't have any genererals who can do anything but make excuses. After four-and-a-half years of screwing pooches and trying to make soup sandwiches out of sand, we can get nothing out of the stuffed-shirts but more U. S. and Iraqi casualties, more squandered billions of dollars per month, and more pleas for more time to do more of the same that they've already done to absolutely no purpose but making things monumentally worse. In short: if they could have they would have but they didn't so they can't. Way past time to pull the plug on this Warfare Welfare and Makework Militarism. Enough with the Ordnance Expenditure Expedition. Enough of the Commendation Accumulation (i.e., "ticket punching") Syndrome.
Enough with the big-brass excuses. Time for results. Time to get out of Iraq. If we can't find a general who can pull that off in six weeks, then we need to fire all the generals and colonels till we find ourselves a major who didn't sleep through his entire four years at West Point. Et cetera.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

VERY WELL SAID.

[Dap]

Eloquently expressed!

Misfortune­Teller... you're Da Man! Good on ya Sir!

A *Real* tell it as it *IS*

[Boadicea]

Delightful read! I'm enjoying the contributions from past/present military to this thread.

[laocoon]

We obviously could do it if we had to in a very short time but would there be substantially more costs than doing it orderly. One cost might be our image with those in the middle east. I was against the war from the start and do not believe we should have any troops as a residual force but we need to minimize the costs and losses of the withdrawal.

[fact finder]

Saw a great bumper sticker: THE W GOT A F.Not only has the surge failed the whole damned conflict has failed except for making the rich richer and decimating this nations young.

[oneyedsnake]

I agree with the governor. Their government cannot come to terms amongst themselves. Our government is bailing at every turn and Uncle Sugar is running out of reasonable doubt. This is leaving us in a very precarious situation. If we cut our losses now, we will survive to fight another day. If we stay the course, we will slowly dry up our resources and become vulnerable to those who threaten our existence now. A win-win situation is not within the sights of the current administration of either the US or Iraq. Bush is running out of brains to tap and whipping boys for the press. If the good governor plays his cards right and has the courage he espouses, he will begin presenting the real issues to his constituency. Make that plane trip to the flood zones and bring the issues that matter up front and center. Make the MSM take notice and every chance you get shove it into the limelight. Visit those schools that have no funding for books and hand out the charity bookbags. Go back to the 9th ward and plaster that issue on the front page of the WaPo neoconoclastic spooge rag. Make public a visit to an afterschool program whose sole existence is to keep kids off the streets while their minimum wage parents finish their workdays. Walk the streets with a reporter doing a special on the plight of the richest nation in the world's homeless people. Don't PROMISE us anything..­.just make sense to those of us who are tired of hearing the drooling rich crusades of the nightly news redirecting our attention away from the issue of our involvement in a war that was based on the hippocracy of democracy being the only politically correct solution to the woes of the world. Just Get Real Bill and show us who YOU really are! Who knows, we may like you enough to make you a leader in the coming election.

[OETKB]

The problem is with us. A candidate presents a direction most people agree with and instead of further examining him, the dissing begins. Those who don't like overestimating the kind of risk to our security Iraq represents and want an approach involving non violent solutions will support him.

We have the most powerful military on the face of the Earth and no country doubts it. It is our use of it that is resented in countries it affects. Governor Richardson has shown the ability to negotiate with difficult hombres and have success. His latest was his trip to North Korea where he helped shape a very positive agreement from one that was leading to a belligerent stand off. We hear very little of this.

Do any of the other candidates have his background or experience? He was elected in NM by almost 70% of the vote. His public persona is not glitzy but he has shown that he cares deeply about bringing peace and better lives to the general population. It's time to talk him up and look more closely at his qualifications.

[Boadicea]

I agree with you that a candidate's popularity in his/her home state while serving is an important indicator of performance. The home state represents a group of people to whom the candidate has been responsible while in power. This group has watched the candidate closely, and their judgement has had the benefit of close scrutiny by local media. I hope more people consider candidates' poll numbers at home while they hold/held office.

That Governor Richardson has managed to maintain strong support in a Red state says a great deal about his ability to get things done.

[Mariel]

Gov. Richardson, you did not follow up with the support you promised the victims of the Los Alamos fire in 2000. Some of us never recovered, while others managed to take it to the bank..You promised us help when you came to talk at the high school in 2000, but we were left hanging by FEMA and you didn't continue to oversea the shoddy behavior of the FEMA agents who held up our payments for years, until we had no hope.

Thus, I do not trust you now. You make statements I could agree with, but I don't trust you to follow up. I have more trust in Senator Biden's exit plan for Iraq.
Even though I am now as poor as a churchmouse, having lost most of my equity in 2000, I gave my second small donation to Biden's campaign today. He deserves my help because he has a real plan and a real passion to get us out the right way.

But you have done some good things, such as Verified Voting New Mexico. After firing my broadside, I have to say you are not all bad. Good luck as Secretary of State?

Mariel Strauss

[Misanthrope2]

Biden has no exit plan. He wants to keep troops there.

[LizM]

You gotta be kidding me! You didn't write that with a straight face, did ya?