He's right, but such a snotty way to say it!

NY Times:

The Democrats...said a phased redeployment of troops would be their top priority when the new Congress convenes in January, even before an investigation of the conduct of the war.

"We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months," Mr. Levin said in an appearance on the ABC News program "This Week." In a telephone interview later, Mr. Levin added, "The point of this is to signal to the Iraqis that the open-ended commitment is over and that they are going to have to solve their own problems."

I of course would prefer that we complete a total withdrawal of forces from Iraq in four to six minutes, but I've been saying that since March 20, 2003. Phased redeployment in four to six months is an improvement over "stay the course until the job is done," and probably the best we're going to get.

I also agree that the Iraqis are going to have to solve their own problems, but the fact is that what we're doing is a brutal, illegal occupation, not a "commitment." We should withdraw from Iraq for two reasons: one, because we have no right to be there, and two, because our troops are making a bad situation worse. If there were any evidence whatsoever that the US military was actually improving the situation in Iraq, I might be willing to agree that that fact trumps the first. If we had shown ourselves to be capable of cleaning up our mess, maybe we should stay a little longer. But that is not the case. The illegal occupiers are not making a bad situation better; they should leave. And stop blaming the victims for the mess we've made!