] Inside the Bush administration policymaking apparatus,
] there is strong feeling that U.S. troops must leave Iraq
] next year. This determination is not predicated on
] success in implanting Iraqi democracy and internal
] stability. Rather, the officials are saying: Ready or
] not, here we go.

If we walk out and leave the place for dead we'll produce another Iran.
Will the U.N. help us now that we've made this mess? Can they do so effectively? Would the people in Iraq view them more legitimately as a security force? Do they have the strength to take the insurgents on when we don't?

[ Keep in mind, this is Robert Novak talking. Not someone I have a lot of faith in. That being said, I think this article cuts to the heart of what a lot of people are starting to realize, which is that the place is quite simply fucked. That the situation may be so far out of hand that anything resembling victory is not merely difficult, but completely impossible. That the scope of the mismanagement is so great that no UN support or new tactic or amount of money is gonna fix it.

I don't claim to be expert enough to make this determination, but i read enough to catch the thread of this argument from people who are experts. The comparisons to Vietnam are no longer tossed around frivolously by extremists, but by highly respected ex-generals. More, or different colored, boots on the ground may not be enough. Bush broke Iraq, and we may have to admit that it's beyond putting back together. No one likes that answer, but it's not implausible.

And I think turning into Iran isn't the worst case scenario even. -k]

Quick exit from Iraq is likely