There comes a time in the transformation of a nation when there is nothing you can do but stand back and hope that good people will rise up to their moment in time and bring about a new nation with new hopes and new dreams and a new peace.
So The question becomes where do we stand back to? Do we stand back by reducing to a smaller embeded training force? If you do that you might as well call them sacrificial lambs. They will be incredibly vulnerable to targeting by any number of groups. Groups that every day show evidence of increasing sophistication.
The the first step back should be to get out of the metropoliton areas. To put solders in the crossfire of a civil war, especial in an urban setting, show a complete devaluation of the lives of your soldiers. You don't support the troops by making them sitting ducks.
We do need to remain nearby if for no other reason then humanitarian. We will need to be prepared to accept and offer assistance to all refugees from the urban area. We must also try to minimize outside influence, but, in the end this is the struggle for a new Iraqi identity being fought by Iraqis and maybe we all need to just stand back.
So The question becomes where do we stand back to? Do we stand back by reducing to a smaller embeded training force? If you do that you might as well call them sacrificial lambs. They will be incredibly vulnerable to targeting by any number of groups. Groups that every day show evidence of increasing sophistication.
The the first step back should be to get out of the metropoliton areas. To put solders in the crossfire of a civil war, especial in an urban setting, show a complete devaluation of the lives of your soldiers. You don't support the troops by making them sitting ducks.
We do need to remain nearby if for no other reason then humanitarian. We will need to be prepared to accept and offer assistance to all refugees from the urban area. We must also try to minimize outside influence, but, in the end this is the struggle for a new Iraqi identity being fought by Iraqis and maybe we all need to just stand back.
