Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups





















« Britain To Design Streets to Be Safer... For Drunks | Main | WaPo bashes do-nothing dems on drilling vote suppression »
July 25, 2008

McCain's 16-Month Timetable Goal

Athough this can be twisted against McCain, and undermines his previous pronouncements that such a fast schedule was unfeasible, hey, when conditions and facts change, policy can (and often should) change as well.

It's not clear to me the war is over. The stabilization of Iraq seems almost irreversible. Almost.

But barring any major (and sustained) renewal of terrorist violence, there's not really a particularly compelling reason to keep more troops in Iraq than are necessary.

The key word there is "necessary." McCain suggest that, if troops are no longer necessary, a sixteen month (or, more likely, two year) withdrawal will be good policy. The gym rat opposing him wants to bug out whether or not we're leaving a stable Iraq behind, with a military capable of handling all internal (and most external) threats, and would, if he had his druthers, expedite the process to make certain we left behind a disintegrating Iraq.

Will we need troops in Iraq in sixteen months? I have no idea and I doubt people who actually know what they're talking about know, either. But I do think it's not unrealistic, or over-optimistic, to imagine an Iraq which is more or less free of substantial violence or threats to government control within, who knows, a scant six months.

Bear in mind, Obama has been proposing withdrawal -- surrender -- since 2005. He was most energetic about pushing his withdrawal plans when it was most likely to result in an Al Qaeda victory. He only mentions it almost apologetically now, now that victory is nearly at hand.

McCain (and all conservatives) have always wanted out of Iraq as soon as possible... after victory was achieved. Which is the goal in any war.

Well, victory is nearly achieved. Six months from now, who knows, it may be officially declared, and not in the Democrats "declare a catastrophic failure a victory and go home sense" either. No, our troops, and the growing Iraqi forces, might just have this particular coonskin nailed to the wall in six months.

Or even three months.

And given that very real possibility, who can discount a 16-month withdrawal of most combat troops? Difficult to manage, I'm sure, but our troops will be presumably 1) coming home in victory, not harassed by serious enemy gunfire as they disembark and 2) are probably pretty motivated to get home as quickly as possible.

I don't think 16 months is terribly realistic or likely. But that basic timeframe -- 16 months, 18 months, two years -- sure seems a lot more likely than it did at any point during the war.


digg this
posted by Ace at 08:55 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Romeo13: "180 Also the other day, the National Park Service ..."

Soothsayer: " [i] I don't think Tiffany is even 30 yet. If she ..."

[/i][/b]andycanuck (CEzQx)[/s][/u]: "Our CAGW intellectual superiors in action... In ..."

Sebastian Melmoth: "I think the number of hurricanes predicted each ye ..."

Tom Servo: "154 Also last week, some CO hikers found a skeleto ..."

AZ deplorable moron : "Tiffany was born in '93 to Trump's 2nd wife 'Marpl ..."

Grudge Harbor: "Why does a single genetic Clone (Trooper) up and d ..."

Don Black: ">BREAKING: Diddy’s trafficking trial will be ..."

NaCly Dog: "For the source of my science update, go to https:/ ..."

Soothsayer: " [i]It's been planned for months already, but my ..."

bluebell: "Soothsayer, I don't think Tiffany is even 30 yet. ..."

Ben Had: "NaCly, my business partners family owned the gra ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64