While the Democrats try to cut-&-run-&-surrender, the Bush Administration ahas created a plan that will lead to an orderly withdrawal from Iraq after certain key goals have been met -- expected in the summer of 2009.

The classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. “Sustainable security” is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.

The detailed document, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, is an elaboration of the new strategy President Bush signaled in January when he decided to send five additional American combat brigades and other units to Iraq. That signaled a shift from the previous strategy, which emphasized transferring to Iraqis the responsibility for safeguarding their security.

That new approach put a premium on protecting the Iraqi population in Baghdad, on the theory that improved security would provide Iraqi political leaders with the breathing space they needed to try political reconciliation.

The latest plan, which covers a two-year period, does not explicitly address troop levels or withdrawal schedules. It anticipates a decline in American forces as the “surge” in troops runs its course later this year or in early 2008. But it nonetheless assumes continued American involvement to train soldiers, act as partners with Iraqi forces and fight terrorist groups in Iraq, American officials said.

Ultimately, this comes down to a very basic question for the American people -- do you value on immediate withdrawal or success in Iraq? That is the choice we face right now -- and with one political party committed to immediacy, we face teh real possibility of the second Democrat-engineered military defeat in my lifetime.

Posted by: Greg at 12:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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