Another Case for Withdrawal

In a recent Alternet article, Raed Jarrer & Joshua Holland argue that a U.S. withdrawal would be the best way to end al-Qaeda's presence in Iraq. Iraqis of all ethnic groups despise al-Qaeda, but tacitly support their attacks on coalition forces. Such support would collapse as soon as those forces withdraw. A majority of Iraqis also believe that withdrawal would lead to a more secure Iraq (as less foreign fighters would be drawn to Iraq by an American presence) and even less sectarian violence.

If you need more proof than Iraqi consensus, note that the heavily touted progress in the al-Anbar province is really due to a drawdown of American troops.

To err is human; to withdraw, divine.

A new Think Progress article speculates that withdrawing from Iraq could actually be the best move for the nation's security:

Much of the touted security gains have come in the Anbar province,...while troop numbers were being reduced in the region....

Many Sunnis, for their part, are less inclined to see the soldiers as occupiers now that it is clear that American troop reductions are all but inevitable, and they are more concerned with strengthening their ability to fend off threats from Sunni jihadists and Shiite militias....

Recognition that there is a far more effective alternative to U.S. military operations to reduce al Qaeda’s influence would be a major blow to George W. Bush’s argument against a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops, which has relied increasingly on the threat of an al Qaeda haven in Iraq.

Read the whole article here.