Cautious Catch-Phrases
"AS THE IRAQIS STAND UP, WE WILL STAND DOWN."
This phrase has been the essence of President Bush's strategy in dealing with Iraq. Unfortunately, it has many holes:
1. It puts an unfair amount of pressure on citizens who have already had to endure invasion, an occupation, and now constant terrorist attacks. How anyone could hope to properly train in such a fragmented and hostile environment is beyond me.
2. It implies that the majority of Iraqis wants us to leave. So far, any evidence of this has been subjective. I never believed we were going to greeted as liberators, but I strongly suspected that as time went on, a number of citizens would become dependent on us.
3. It suggests a timetable, but Bush has yet to give one. What defines a sucessful "stand up?" will it be different based on the troop size and location? What Iraqi unit "stands up," the corresponding American unit "stands down" and then the Iraqi unit gets attacked and destroyed? What then?
4. Can't you imagine just one soldier thinking: "These people better get their act together. I want to go home! " and then doing something..."questionable" to speed up the process? do we really want to put our soldiers in that situation?
5. The most obvious, especially with the Katrina tragedy: if we send too many of our soldiers away, we have less troops here to protect the homeland not only against terrorism, but natural disasters.
This phrase is the bedrock of our President's "exit strategy." If it not revised or replaced, many more lives (American, Ally or Iraqi) will be lost.
This phrase has been the essence of President Bush's strategy in dealing with Iraq. Unfortunately, it has many holes:
1. It puts an unfair amount of pressure on citizens who have already had to endure invasion, an occupation, and now constant terrorist attacks. How anyone could hope to properly train in such a fragmented and hostile environment is beyond me.
2. It implies that the majority of Iraqis wants us to leave. So far, any evidence of this has been subjective. I never believed we were going to greeted as liberators, but I strongly suspected that as time went on, a number of citizens would become dependent on us.
3. It suggests a timetable, but Bush has yet to give one. What defines a sucessful "stand up?" will it be different based on the troop size and location? What Iraqi unit "stands up," the corresponding American unit "stands down" and then the Iraqi unit gets attacked and destroyed? What then?
4. Can't you imagine just one soldier thinking: "These people better get their act together. I want to go home! " and then doing something..."questionable" to speed up the process? do we really want to put our soldiers in that situation?
5. The most obvious, especially with the Katrina tragedy: if we send too many of our soldiers away, we have less troops here to protect the homeland not only against terrorism, but natural disasters.
This phrase is the bedrock of our President's "exit strategy." If it not revised or replaced, many more lives (American, Ally or Iraqi) will be lost.
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