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The Richardson Plan to End the War in Iraq

"Overwhelming majorities of Iraqis, both Shia and Sunni, oppose the presence of US troops in Iraq and believe that US troops are more a cause of violence than a solution to it. Our presence in Iraq fuels the insurgency, strengthens Al Qaeda, and distracts us from the urgent task of defeating the real terrorists who attacked this country on 9-11. It's time for a phased and coordinated, but rapid, withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq, and Governor Richardson has a realistic plan to do it."
- Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr. (U.S. Army, Ret.)1

DE-AUTHORIZE, GET ALL TROOPS OUT

The only way to achieve peace and stability in Iraq is to get all U.S. troops out. All of them, with no residual forces left behind. Governor Richardson has repeatedly called for de-authorization of the war. If elected, he will begin an immediate redeployment on his first day in office.

  • The Iraqis want us out. Iraqis do not feel safer. Iraqis don't want U.S. forces in their country. A recent survey of more than 2,000 people across Iraq concluded that 47 percent want American forces and their coalition allies to leave the country immediately. 57 percent of those surveyed, including 93% of Sunnis and half of Shia Arabs, say attacks on coalition forces are acceptable. 70% in the survey said they believe security has worsened in regions where surge forces have been added.2

    No military solution. Even General Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, conceded, "there is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq."3 4 Our troops have done everything asked of them with courage and professionalism. But they cannot win someone else's civil war. The solution in Iraq is a diplomatic one, not a military one. Leaving our troops in Iraq would serve as a roadblock to political progress.5 6 The hard work of diplomacy and reconciliation cannot begin until the US begins to withdraw troops and we make it clear we are leaving for good. Samuel Berger and Bruce Reidel agree that the United States must re-deploy from Iraq to spark the kind of political reconciliation needed in Iraq:

    A clear US commitment to a complete, irreversible withdrawal from Iraq may now be the only way to develop a regional concert of powers that could work with Iraqis to try to stabilise the country and cauterise the conflict.7

A complete redeployment will eliminate the insurgents' ability to use our presence as a rallying cry for recruiting and attacks. Philip E. Coyle, Senior Advisor at the Center for Defense Information8, agrees that there is not a military solution to this problem:

There's an old saying, "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging." Americans understand this, and can see that our US military is in a hole in Iraq. Gov. Richardson understands this also, and wants to get our military out of that hole. Americans can see that the war in Iraq is helping al Qaeda to recruit terrorists, undermining the struggle against terrorism, increasing the chances of terror attacks on the US, encouraging anti-American hatred, and strengthening Iran. In a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, nearly 6 in 10 Americans continue to say they want their representatives in Congress to vote for legislation that would bring the troops home by August, 2008. Gov. Richardson is working to bring our young men and women home from Iraq as soon as possible.

  • The surge has failed. This past summer was the deadliest of the war for our service members,9 and the troop surge has failed to accomplish its declared goals. The Government Accountability Office found that of 18 legislative, security and economic benchmarks, the Iraqi government has met only 3, partially met 4, and did not meet 11. 10
  • Leaving troops behind will result in significant casualties. Having a much smaller force in Iraq and implementing a partial withdrawal has not prevented significant British casualties.11 12 The British have already lost more troops this year than in each of the past three years of the war.13
RAPID AND COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL WOULD BE SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE

A growing number of experts agree that a total withdrawal of forces can be done quickly and safely.14

A total withdrawal:

  • Will save lives: a slow draw down, as the United States did in Vietnam, will only ensure more U.S. and Iraqi casualties15
  • Is entirely possible, within a reasonable amount of time: the U.S. moved 240,000 troops through Kuwait in as little as three months.16
  • Has been done rapidly before: almost half a million troops were re-deployed in just a few months after the first Gulf War.17
  • Will not be as complex as some might believe: the United States can leave behind some light and non-sensitive equipment to speed withdrawal and assist Iraqi military forces. 18 19

    The Center for American Progress agrees that our forces have the capability to elect to abandon certain equipment for the sake of expediting U.S. departure from Iraq:

    • The time that it takes to withdraw from Iraq will depend in large part on the amount of equipment the military decides to take with it. The military, however, does not need to remove every nut and every bolt out of every forward operating base in country. Sensitive equipment aside, at some point a cost-benefit analysis must be done. Such an analysis must consider what equipment will be taken with us. Since it currently costs more than $10 billion per month to sustain our presence in Iraq, extending our stay in order to extract all non-sensitive equipment -- such as freezers, sinks, fuel, excess equipment, and x-ray machines -- would not be cost-effective or worth risking the lives of our troops.

    In his report, A Tenuous Case for Strategic Patience in Iraq, Anthony Cordesman includes a point that illustrates the capacities of the United States military:

    The US has some 160,000 military personnel in Iraq and a matching or greater number of civilians and contractors. It has between 140,000 and 200,000 metric tons of valuable equipment and supplies, and some 15,000-20,000 military vehicles and major weapons. It is dispersed in many of Iraq's cities and now in many forward operating bases. This does not mean that the US cannot leave quickly. It can rush out quickly by destroying or abandoning much off its supplies and equipment, and simply removing its personnel and contractors (and some unknown amount of Iraqis who bet their lives and families on a continued US effort). The more equipment and facilities (and Iraqis) it destroys or abandons, the quicker it can move. Under these conditions, the US could rush out in as little as a few weeks and no more than a few months.

PROMOTE IRAQI RECONCILIATION, WORK WITH ALL NEIGHBORS AND ALLIES, AND SEEK GLOBAL COOPERATION IN RECONSTRUCTION

Withdrawing all U.S. troops will allow us to implement a new strategy, composed of three key initiatives to be pursued simultaneously:

  • National reconciliation. As we withdraw our forces, Iraqis will start to see us as brokers, rather than as occupiers. We should promote national reconciliation and compromise through a Dayton-style conference.
  • Regional cooperation. None of Iraq's neighbors wants the instability in Iraq to lead to still greater refugee flows or a larger war.20 The Saudis see a sectarian civil war in Iraq as a threat to the entire region, and both Iran and Syria dread the prospect of a broader war. We need to bring all Iraq's neighbors together, into regional security talks to assure non-interference and secure borders, and to establish a U.N.-sanctioned Muslim peace-keeping force.
  • International financial support for reconstruction. The U.S. should promote a donor's conference to tap wealthy countries, including Muslim countries, to help rebuild Iraq.

REDEPLOY TO ADDRESS REAL THREATS

The United States must re-focus its attention and redeploy its forces to address the real threats facing our country, namely in Afghanistan, and the fight against international terrorism. Once we withdraw our troops from Iraq, we can concentrate on the real enemy: Al Qaeda.

  • Al Qaeda has regrouped in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions. The distraction of Iraq has allowed the terrorists who attacked us on 9-11 to reorganize. According to US intelligence estimates, they are now stronger than before 9/11.21 22
  • The Taliban is making a comeback in Afghanistan. Our national security demands that we re-engage and destroy them. Only when the U.S. starts to show that it takes Afghanistan seriously can we expect our NATO allies to enhance their effort there.24
  • The Iraq war has substantially degraded our readiness to confront other adversaries. 25 26 27 In particular, our Special Operations Forces are tied down in Iraq. We need them in Afghanistan, where the terrorists are headquartered , not in Iraq.

General Gard, writing with Brigadier General John H. Johns (U.S. Army, Ret.), comments that:

Waging a full-time, unpopular war in Iraq, combined with the recent hurricane disasters, consumes the attention of the Administration's national security team, resulting in too little consideration of other critical threats to the security of the United States. These include terrorist organizations, unsecured nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union, the nuclear aspirations of Iran and North Korea and loose nuclear materials around the globe available to terrorists.

Citations

  1. Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr. (U.S. Army, Ret.) currently serves as the Senior Military Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
  2. "US surge has failed - Iraqi poll." BBC News. 10 September 2007.
  3. "No Military Solution to Iraq, U.S. General Says." CNN.com. 9 March 2007.
  4. "Victory Is Not an Option: The Mission Can't Be Accomplished -- It's Time for a New Strategy." By William E. Odom. The Washington Post. 11 February 2007.
  5. "Cut and Run? You Bet." By Lt. Gen. William E. Odom. Foreign Policy Magazine. May/June 2006.
  6. "There are risks if the U.S. withdraws its troops from Iraq. Are there greater risks in keeping them there?" By Robert G. Gard, Jr., Lt. Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.) and John H. Johns, Brig Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.) Council for a Livable World. November 2005.
  7. "America must pull out of Iraq to contain civil war." By Samuel Berger and Bruce Riedel. The Financial Times. 23 July 2007.
  8. Philip E. Coyle has spent decades working for the Defense Department, the private sector, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the University of California. He was also appointed to BRAC in 2005.
  9. "US Deaths By Month." Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. 13 September 2007.
  10. "GAO REPORT: Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqi Government Has Not Met Most Legislative, Security, and Economic Benchmarks." The Government Accountability Office. GAO-07-1195. 4 September 2007.
  11. "Military Fatalities: By Month." Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. 13 September 2007.
  12. "The Conflict in Iraq: Out of Tranquility, Mayhem: As British draw down, violence in Basra is up." Los Angeles Times. 29 April 2007.
  13. Ibid.
  14. "How to Redeploy: Implementing a Responsible Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq." By Lawrence J. Korb, Max A. Bergmann, Sean A. Duggan, Peter M. Juul. Center for American Progress. September 2007.
    "America must pull out of Iraq to contain civil war." By Samuel Berger and Bruce Riedel. The Financial Times. 23 July 2007.
    "Victory Is Not an Option: The Mission Can't Be Accomplished -- It's Time for a New Strategy." By William E. Odom. The Washington Post. 11 February 2007.
    "There are risks if the U.S. withdraws its troops from Iraq. Are there greater risks in keeping them there?" By Robert G. Gard, Jr., Lt. Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.) and John H. Johns, Brig Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.) Council for a Livable World. November 2005.
    "The Tenuous Case for Strategic Patience in Iraq: A Trip Report." By Anthony Cordesman. Center For Strategic and International Studies. 6 August 2007.
  15. "The Virtual Wall: 1969-1975." Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Available at: http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=2
  16. "Kuwait Facilities Could Handle Big Troop Pullout, General Says." By Josh White. The Washington Post. 2 August 2007.
  17. 10 March 1991: U.S. forces begin re-deploying. "Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm: Executive Summary." United States Central Command. 11 July 1991.
    June 1991: Welcome Home parades throughout the U.S. for returning troops: "Sounds of Desert Storm will return in DC's victory parade Saturday." By Bob Dart. Orange County Register. 6 June 1991.
  18. "How to Redeploy: Implementing a Responsible Drawdown of U.S. Forces from Iraq." By Lawrence J. Korb, Max A. Bergmann, Sean A. Duggan, Peter M. Juul. Center for American Progress. September 2007.
  19. "The Tenuous Case for Strategic Patience in Iraq: A Trip Report." By Anthony Cordesman. Center For Strategic and International Studies. 6 August 2007.
  20. "America must pull out of Iraq to contain civil war." By Samuel Berger and Bruce Riedel. The Financial Times. 23 July 2007.
  21. "National Intelligence Estimate: Al Qaeda stronger and a threat to US homeland:
    Report Points to War in Iraq and Pakistan's Tribal Areas as Allowing Al Qaeda to Regroup. By Tom A. Peter. The Christian Science Monitor. 19 July 2007 Edition.
  22. "Al Qaeda Widespread in Pakistan: Anti-Terrorism Officials and Experts Say a U.S. Report Incorrectly Focuses on the Group's Strength in Border Areas." By Josh Meyer. The Los Angeles Times. 20 July 2007.
  23. "Al Qaeda Strikes Back." By Bruce Riedel. Foreign Affairs. The Council on Foreign Relations. May/June 2007.
  24. "Taliban Resurgence." PRI's The World. 10 September 2007.
  25. "United States Army Military Readiness." Press Release from Representatives Murtha and Obey. 13 September 2006.
  26. "Fighting on Borrowed Time: The Effect on US Military Readiness of America's post-9/11 Wars." By Carl Conetta. Project on Defense Alternatives Briefing Report #19. 11 September 2006.
  27. "There are risks if the U.S. withdraws its troops from Iraq. Are there greater risks in keeping them there?" By Robert G. Gard, Jr., Lt. Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.) and John H. Johns, Brig Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.) Council for a Livable World. November 2005.
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