Iraqi Defense Minister Wants US in Iraq Until 2018

The Iraq Defense Minister said yesterday in Washington that he envisions the US in Iraq until 2018. He doesn't believe that his country will be able to handle internal security until 2009 to 2012 and will not be able to defend its borders until 2018 to 2020. These remarks need to be jumped on by Democratic candidates running for President.

In the past Bubble-Boy has gotten away with mouthing platitudes like "When the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down." Platitudes that were designed to sound tough, but avoid actually telling the American people how long their sons and daughters were expected to be in Iraq. Now, thanks to the honesty of the Iraq Defense Minister, we know what this Administration's plan is for Iraq. Its plan is that American troops stay in Iraq for another decade.

It is time for Democrats to engage the Republicans on this issue. The choice is pretty clear. We can be in Iraq for 10 more years while the Iraqis fight among themselves or we can set deadlines and get out. We can't control what the Iraqis do, we can only control what we do.

If Bubble-Boy and the Duck Hunter would have told the American people back in 2003 that we would lose at least 4,000 American troops in Iraq, spend at least half a trillion dollars, and be tied up in Iraq for 15 years, there is no way that the American public would have supported this war. Of course, we weren't told that. Instead we were told that we had to worry about mushroom clouds over our country.

Right now, according to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, only 3% of Americans would support having large numbers of American troops stay in Iraq longer than five years. Only 10% would support having large numbers of American troops in Iraq for two to five years. Given those numbers, there's no way that Americans will buy into BB's 10 year plan.