[Mb-civic] Time for An Iraq Timetable - (Sen.) Joseph R. Biden Jr. - Washington Post Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

Time for An Iraq Timetable

By Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Saturday, November 26, 2005; A25

The question most Americans want answered about Iraq is this: When will 
our troops come home?

We already know the likely answer. In 2006, they will begin to leave in 
large numbers. By the end of the year, we will have redeployed about 
50,000. In 2007, a significant number of the remaining 100,000 will 
follow. A small force will stay behind -- in Iraq or across the border 
-- to strike at any concentration of terrorists.

That is because we cannot sustain 150,000 Americans in Iraq without 
extending deployment times, sending soldiers on fourth and fifth tours, 
or mobilizing the National Guard. Even if we could, our large military 
presence -- while still the only guarantor against a total breakdown -- 
is increasingly counterproductive. A liberation has become an occupation.

There is another critical question: As our soldiers redeploy, will our 
security interests in Iraq remain intact or will we have traded a 
dictator for chaos?

There is a broad consensus on what must be done to preserve our 
interests. Recently, 79 Democratic and Republican senators told 
President Bush we need a detailed, public plan for Iraq, with specific 
goals and a timetable for achieving each one.

Over the next six months, we must forge a sustainable political 
compromise between Iraqi factions, strengthen the Iraqi government and 
bolster reconstruction efforts, and accelerate the training of Iraqi forces.

First, we need to build political consensus, starting with the 
constitution. Sunnis must accept that they no longer rule Iraq. But 
unless Shiites and Kurds give them a stake in the new deal, they will 
continue to resist. We must help produce a constitution that will unite 
Iraq, not divide it.

Iraq's neighbors and the international community have a huge stake in 
the country's future. The president should initiate a regional strategy 
-- as he did in Afghanistan -- to leverage the influence of neighboring 
countries. And he should establish a Contact Group of the world's major 
powers -- as we did in the Balkans -- to become the Iraqi government's 
primary international interlocutor.

Second, we must build Iraq's governing capacity and overhaul the 
reconstruction program. Iraq's ministries are barely functional. Sewage 
in the streets, unsafe drinking water and a lack of electricity are all 
too common. With 40 percent unemployment in Iraq, insurgents do not lack 
for fresh recruits.

We need a civilian commitment equal to our military effort. Just as 
military personnel are required to go to Iraq, the president should 
identify more skilled foreign service officers to help.

This should not be their burden alone. Britain proposed that individual 
countries adopt ministries. It's a good idea that we should pursue. We 
must redirect reconstruction contracts away from multinationals and to 
Iraqis.

Countries that have pledged aid must deliver it. So far, only $3 billion 
of the $13.5 billion in non-American aid has made it to Iraq. And the 
president should convene a conference of our Gulf allies. They have 
reaped huge windfall oil profits -- it's time they gave back.

The third goal is to transfer authority to Iraqi security forces. In 
September, Gen. George W. Casey Jr. acknowledged that only one Iraqi 
battalion -- fewer than 1,000 troops -- can fight without U.S. help. An 
additional 40 can lead counterinsurgency operations with our support.

The president must set a schedule for getting Iraqi forces trained to 
the point that they can act on their own or take the lead with U.S. 
help. We should take up other countries on their offers to do more 
training, especially of officers. We should focus on getting the 
security ministries up to speed. Even well-trained troops need to be 
equipped, sustained and directed.

We also need an effective counterinsurgency strategy. The administration 
finally understands the need not only to clear territory but also to 
hold and build on it. We have never had enough U.S. troops to do that. 
Now there is no choice but to gamble on the Iraqis. We can help by 
changing the mix of our forces to include more embedded trainers, civil 
affairs units and Special Forces.

Iraqis of all sects want to live in a stable country. Iraq's neighbors 
don't want a civil war next door. The major powers don't want a 
terrorist haven in the heart of the Middle East. The American people 
want us to succeed.

If the administration shows it has a blueprint for protecting our 
fundamental security interests in Iraq, Americans will support it.

The writer is a senator from Delaware and the ranking Democrat on the 
Foreign Relations Committee.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/25/AR2005112500864.html?nav=hcmodule
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