Step one would be for the P.R. and spin warriors at the White House to stop using the language of "retreat" to describe a needed change of course.  They are making the inevitable  more difficult.

John Murtha, certainly one of the most hawkish senior Democrat leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, retired Marine colonel and Vietnam veteran, said yesterday that "the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily.  It is time to bring [the troops] home."

Murtha 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.

He says he wants U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as they can be withdrawn safely.  He estimates that should take about six months.

...
 

"This is the first prolonged war we have fought with three years of tax cuts, without full mobilization of American industry and without a draft," the Congressman says. "The burden of this war has not been shared equally; the military and their families are shouldering this burden."

Murtha isn't calling for a draft, or arguing for mobilization, or for increased taxes or rationing.  In this regard, I take it he is rejecting the Bush administration's argument that the war on terrorism is the new Cold War, that it is a clash of civilizations that demands our sacrifice. I believe it is neither and I look forward to the debate doors that will open as we increasingly put the failed Iraq enterprise behind us.

 

What's your take? Comment here.

...