Joining The Stampede...

Taegan Goddard

January 10, 2005

From Political Wire:

Talk Turns to Getting Out of Iraq

Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), "an avowedly strong supporter of President Bush, says it's time for the United States to consider withdrawing from war-ravaged Iraq," the Greensboro News and Record reports. Coble "is one of the first members of Congress -- Republican or Democrat -- to say publicly that the United States should consider a pullout."

The New York Times notes that getting get out of Iraq is now a hot topic in Washington, D.C.

But the bleakest news comes from the military experts at Stratfor, who now conclude the American occupation in Iraq is lost:

"The issue facing the Bush administration is simple. It can continue to fight the war as it has, hoping that a miracle will bring successes in 2005 that didn't happen in 2004. Alternatively, it can accept the reality that the guerrilla force is now self-sustaining and sufficiently large not to flicker out and face the fact that a U.S. conventional force of less than 150,000 is not likely to suppress the guerrillas."

They say a civil war is now inevitable and recommend withdrawing American troops to the periphery of Iraq while it takes place.

Finally, even Secretary of State Colin Powell painted a bleak picture of Iraq, the International Herald Tribune reports. Said Powell: "I think we all are worried about what's going to happen after the elections."