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A BIGGER VIEW

Re: Withdrawal from Iraq

From the San Francisco chronicle, March 18, editorial

Troop levels surged to 160,000 earlier this year, which helped achieve at least one of the president’s goals - an improved security situation. Already, this number is due to drop to 140,000 by January’s presidential inauguration.

Now comes the hard part: How and when to reduce troop numbers further and with what long-term expectations.

It’s easy to promise a steady withdrawal of troops, given the war-weary nature of U.S. opinion and the White House’s abysmal handling of the war’s aftermath. But this conflict began with assumptions that never came true. Contrary to what President Bush promised, there were no storehouses of weapons of mass destruction, Iraq did not unite in the wake of Saddam’s departure, and the war never unleashed a flowering of democracy across the Mideast. Fresh assumptions and predictions could likewise be wrong.

Wishes don’t produce results, at least not in Iraq. The coming months and years merit caution, as this country throws its military mission in to reverse ...

But the present military commitment can’t be prolonged. Signs of strain are everywhere: lengthened tours for soldiers, stretched thin reserves unavailable for other emergencies, and a $425 million-per-day tab. Even a wealthy, powerful nation faces limits.

The problem for voters is sorting through the rhetoric. McCain, leaning on the apparent drop in violence attributed to the troop surge, has said U.S. troops could stay for “maybe 100” years in Iraq. Obama dumped a top adviser who said his pledge to withdraw troops was only a “best-case scenario” that could be delayed. Clinton, who favors withdrawal, has refused to set a date or number on reducing the military.

This haziness can disguise political doublespeak to draw in the widest number of voters. But in this war - oversold, badly managed and seemingly endless - caution is warranted. It’s time to get out before another bleak anniversary, but the specifics need careful study and full debate. That’s something the Iraq war hasn’t always received.