Hey!  The Dems FINALLY Get Behind Withdrawing from Bush's Unpopular War - Sort of
by Rick Klein, Boston Globe

[Blog for Iowa comments are between brackets.]

WASHINGTON - After months [um, YEARS?] of trying unsuccessfully to develop a common message on [Bush's War], Democratic Party "leaders" are beginning to coalesce around a broad plan to begin a "quick" withdrawal of US troops and install them elsewhere in the region, where they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and help fight terrorism in other countries. [Can we just get away from this GOP meme that our ARMY or even ANY army can "fight terrorism?"  It's like saying we don't have a plan to "win the peace."  What peace, for heaven's sake?]

The concept, dubbed ''strategic redeployment," is outlined in a slim, nine-page report coauthored by a former Reagan administration assistant Defense secretary, Lawrence J. Korb, in the fall. It sets a goal of a phased troop withdrawal that would take nearly all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2007 [and this is considered quick?] ...

Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee chairman, has endorsed Korb's paper and begun mentioning it in meetings with local Democratic groups. In addition, the study's concepts have been touted by the senator assigned to bring Democrats together on Iraq - Jack Reed of Rhode Island - and the report has been circulated among all senators by Senator Dianne Feinstein, an influential moderate Democrat from California.  [Well, at least they are trying to look like they're organized.] ...

Many leading Democrats say the Korb plan represents an answer to Republicans' oft-repeated charge that Democrats aren't offering a way forward on Iraq [because, if Democrats DO offer a way to get out of Iraq, the Republicans call them disloyal and unpatriotic and traitors.  Go figure....]

''We're not going to cut and run - that's just Republican propaganda," Dean said in a speech Feb. 10 in Boston. ''But we are going to redeploy our troops so they don't have targets on their backs, and they're not breaking down doors and putting themselves in the line of fire all the time. . . . It's a sensible plan. It's a thoughtful plan. I think Democrats can coalesce around it."

[For heaven's sake, Howard - CUT AND RUN!  What are we doing there in the first place?  How many more of our loved ones have to die?  How many more Iraqis do we have to murder in their beds?]

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