Just declare victory, bring troops home

Should the U.S. begin an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq? Even the leading Democratic presidential candidates are refusing to say they would have all of the combat troops out of Iraq by 2013. It is clear that there will long-term consequences not envisioned when the president made the decision to invade Iraq.

There is a growing possibility that the U.S. may be in Iraq for 20 to 30 years or even longer. What is certain is that Iraq has become a quagmire and U.S. troops are stuck in the middle of a civil war. The Bush administration has little credibility left when it comes to Iraq.

It was that administration that predicted a short war, that oil would pay for the cost of it and that the U.S. would be welcomed as liberators. Now in the fifth year of the war, there have been 3,800 American soldiers killed and over 25,000 wounded.

Americans should be extremely skeptical about pronouncements from administration officials that the surge is working and progress for a political settlement is being made.

So what is the answer and who has the answer to what should be done about the 170,000 troops now deployed in Iraq? The answer is simple -- go to Fox News. For the past five years, Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol, Bill Sammon, Fred Barnes, Charles Krauthammer and Brit Hume have yet to be right with any of their observations and predictions concerning Iraq and the war.

Therefore, do just the opposite of what the political pundits at Fox recommend. At Fox, the political wisdom is that the U.S. should remain in Iraq and continue with the surge.

Based on its record of being consistently wrong about Iraq, the U.S. should instead declare victory and begin an immediate withdrawal of most combat troops while turning over the security of Iraq to the 300,000 plus military and security force of Iraq.

This may be an unusual way to conduct a war, but considering the abysmal record of the Bush administration, it certainly couldn't be any worse.

Victor Darst

West Dundee