Why Does the Pentagon Hate America?

Apparently, Pentagon planners also want to give the terrorists a victory in Iraq:

Barring any major surprises in Iraq, the Pentagon tentatively plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces there early next year by as many as three combat brigades, from 18 now, but to keep at least one brigade "on call" in Kuwait in case more troops are needed quickly, several senior military officers said.

Gee, starting to redeploy troops out of Iraq, but leaving some nearby...where have I heard that before?

"My plan calls:

• To immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces.
• To create a quick reaction force in the region.
• To create an over-the-horizon presence of Marines.
• To diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq."

Despite the frothing of the Vice-President, it's becoming clear that it's time to be talking about how we are leaving, not if we are leaving.

Democrats need to be prepared for the impending "pivot" by President Bush. I'm not the first to predict that, before long, we'll see the President release a plan for a phased withdrawal. It will certainly come before the 2006 elections. It will also quite likely be, in almost every detail, the same as proposals we've heard from Democrats. But couched in aggressive "up is down" rhetoric to make it seem like it is a plan bursting fresh from W's forehead, it will be portrayed as completely superior to anything offered by his opponents. They may even suggest that his opponents have offered no realistic alternatives. It's the way they do things.

They won't even have the decency to acknowledge that they've flip-flopped. Which is why those in the reality-based community need to occupy the rhetorical ground now, so that when W. does show up, people can only say "What took you so long?"

Now might also be a good time to be asking why, for all our talk about supporting the new government and building a stable democracy, we've been ignoring the peace talks in Cairo.

Not only did scores of Iraqi political leaders travel to Cairo to talk face to face in a manner that could not have happened in Baghdad, but the meeting was also attended by heads of state, including Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran. After three days of talks, the attendees decided to convene a full-fledged peace conference in Cairo in late February or early March.

The significance of the meeting is that it brought together Shiite and Kurdish officials with leaders of various Sunni factions, including some of those with close ties to the Iraqi resistance. Waiting in the wings were people representing a spectrum of groups currently battling the U.S. occupation. According to Aiham al-Sammarae, who served in Iraq’s 2003-2004 interim government, several leaders of insurgent groups went to Cairo to participate on the fringes of the meeting. Opposition from Iraq’s main Shiite parties made it impossible for them to attend the conference itself, but that may be the next step. In a surprising statement after the conference, the attendees condemned terrorism but added that “resistance is a legitimate right of all peoples.” The conferees clearly intended to marginalize the forces associated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda in Iraq while encouraging opposition forces led by Iraqi nationalists, Baathists, and former military officers to join the talks.

The conference drew strong support from Russia, from the European Union, whose chief foreign affairs official, Javier Solana, helped organize it, and from the United Nations. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan also helped organize the meeting and sent Ashraf Qazi, his special representative, to the conference itself. The broad support from virtually all of the international community made the cool reception from the United States even more glaring.

It would be nice if our Vice-President instead of ranting about "Zarqawi, bin Laden, and Zawahiri in control of Iraq," was actually doing more to prevent that from happening.