Yesterday I went to Rep. Ron Paul's annual BBQ in Alvin, a few miles down the road from my house.
It was very interesting --a huge crowd arrived from all points of the compass. His district 14 adjoins District 22 (D22) and some of the people attending now live in D22.
Dr. Paul looked as if he had stepped off a golf course --very energetic and personable. He's considered a maverick Republican, which is fine by me. I like a person who has independent judgment instead of being just another party clapping seal. We've got enough of those on both sides of the aisle.
Dr. Paul is supporting HJ Res 55, a resolution calling for a “planned exit strategy” from Iraq. But he wants to avoid fixed calendar dates, so it is not a “cut-and-run” policy. All investors go into a business deal with an "exit strategy." Why shouldn't our government take a page from business and do the same? Having a plan is supporting our troops.
An "intelligent design" exit strategy could be triggered by milestones, such as XX% of security being turned over to Iraqis, approval of a Constitution, etc. When those things happen, we start bowing out. We are already at a point where our opinion means less and less in Iraq.
As a counter terrorism expert, I know that there will always be an insurgency killing our troops as long as our soldiers remain in Iraq. It will NEVER fall to zero. It would be no different then if Iraqis were manning checkpoints in American towns and raiding our houses. If the roles were reversed, don’t’ you think we would be leading our own insurgency?
Our country has experience being occupied. Remember the British making U.S. colonists house troops -- and their bad experience with our Minutemen shooting at them from behind trees in 1776? We really resented the British soldiers pushing us around.
Locals on the home front will always have a hometown advantage over any foreign army (look at what happened to the Russians in Afghanistan).
That is why we need to let the Iraqis take over their security ASAP. HJ Res 55 should be given serious consideration.
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