Iraqi Exit Strategy
Paul Wolfowitz outlined how the United States will wrap things up in Iraq in congressional testimony on Tuesday. Responding to questions regarding how long U.S. troops would be required in Iraq after the turnover of sovereignty in June:
“The course of war is simply not something one can determine,” Wolfowitz told a Democratic questioner in the Lugar committee, but “very substantial” Iraqi security forces would be trained and ready by year’s end.
The administration appears to be setting the stage for a near-term withdrawal from Iraq. Coupled with Powell’s recent comments (“were this interim government to say to us, `We really think we can handle this on our own; it would be better if you were to leave,’ we would leave.”), Wolfowitz’s statement makes it apparent that the administration is formulating an exit strategy. In short: 1) hand over sovereignty to unknown, unprepared, phantom government; 2) quickly reformulate and train an Iraqi military; 3) declare Mission Accomplished (again); 4) leave Iraq quickly.
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