Friday, December 02, 2005

What's the Plan?

I find it hard to believe that most of the people who supported the Iraq war from beginning are now the ones screaming that we should pull our troops out immediately. It is a ridiculous notion that we could turn a country upside down for whatever reason and then just leave while they are still in turmoil.

No. Now that we have started this mess, we MUST finish it. While we do not need an abrupt end to the support from our troops, what we do need is a plan, or more specifically - goals. I think setting a timetable is a very good idea.

A timetable of some sort will help everyone understand where we are headed. It would help the troops feel like they are not fighting an endless war. And it would help the Americans (and the world) see what progress is made toward that particular goal. But this is where I think President Bush has a problem with the concept.

The President does not want to put a timetable on our actions because it could look very bad for him if we do not accomplish that goal. He has admitted no fault up to this point, but putting a timetable in place and possibly not meeting it would clearly show a failure of sorts. He can't risk that. And so it goes on and on and on with no end in sight.

Goals are good. The President should swallow his pride and set up a timetable for our actions. Doing so would not mean we would suddenly stop supporting Iraq at the end of the stated time, but merely give us all something to shoot for (pardon the pun).

No comments: