The complicated question of a pullout in Iraq...

Army Girl...

...has a really interesting set of letters that I think folks should check out...

Military folks and family members, some with members they have lost, weighing in as non-partisan as they can on the prospect of a pullout from Iraq...

It's a complicated question, I think...

My first thought...is that Iraqis need to be ready to handle the difficult security issues on their own...and Americans, like it or not, are just better prepared to deal with a whole host of tactical security issues than are Iraqi soldiers...

But the key issue that prompts discussion of an American pullout...is that public opinion in Iraq does seem to support a pullout...and has for quite a while, now, from the polls I've seen (though I totally grant that I may not have seen enough of those polls, at this point)...

The question is...are Iraqis ready to handle their own security issues...and I'm not sure they are...

But...if Americans leave...the big question is...will the insurgency die down...for lack of an American presence...

I, honestly, don't know how to answer that question...I am pessimistic about Iraqis' being able to handle security issues, on their own, as is...I'm quite confident that American military leaders are doing their best to prepare Iraqis to handle those issues on their own...and I'm quite confident that once they and their Iraqi counterparts say that they feel confident in the potential success of a U.S. pullout, that they will say so...

And I haven't heard them say so, yet...

I've heard ordinary Iraqis say that they're ready for a pullout...I've heard Democrats and some Republicans in Congress say that they're ready for a pullout...

But I haven't heard the Iraqi men and women who will be responsible for that security situation...and the Americans and others who are training them say that they are ready, yet...

If Americans leaving will get fewer people killed...then obviously it would be a good idea...

But if Iraqi military, law enforcement, and others responsible for security would be overwhelmed by an insurgency that will only shift its wrath from Americans to the coalition-alligned Iraqi government...then there is serious concern about what will better facilitate a better security situation in Iraq...

The two groups that are not being asked what they think about a pullout...whose thoughts on the situation matter most...

Are Iraqi servicepeople...and American servicepeople...especially their leadership...and others...who can give a better idea of realities on the ground...

I would definitely encourage the American people to show patience with this process until these folks can be consulted...to make security decisions that have life and death consequences for many Iraqis as well as Americans...

Have a great week, everyone:):)...

Love,
Ben