# Iraq War pull-out with Victory **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 19, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038 "2006-11-19T16:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/1 "2006-11-19T16:18:56Z")
Why don’t we announce a pull-out in the next 6-8 months (no drop dead date…gotta leave them guessing a little)? Then we make it clear to the Iraqi government that we are going fight a war against the bad guys **our way** between now and then…are you with us or against us? Then we do it. If we need 20,000 more troops like McCain say’s I’m cool with that. Obviously we can’t get them all and obviously there will be crying and gnashing of teeth but that’s happenning now and will continue for as long as we are there. Then we can rest up and be prepared to go into the next hell hole that will inevitably arise. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/2 "2006-11-19T16:41:51Z")
Our way **AND** the highway? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/3 "2006-11-19T16:49:51Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Our way **AND** the highway? 😃 [/QUOTE] Our way **then** the highway! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/4 "2006-11-19T16:57:56Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] …Then we make it clear to the Iraqi government that we are going fight a war against the bad guys **our way** between now and then…are you with us or against us?.. [/quote] And if the entirely free and sovereign government of Greenzonia says no? > [@](#): > > …Then we do it. If we need 20,000 more troops like McCain say’s I’m cool with that… Groovy. Sign right here. What size combat boot do you take? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/5 "2006-11-19T17:05:52Z")
[Quote=What the…?] Then we make it clear to the Iraqi government that we are going fight a war against the bad guys our way between now and then…are you with us or against us? [/Quote] Please explain what you mean by “our way”. I was under the impression we were fighting this conflict our way; that is, amongst other things, by attempting, however inadequately, to minimize non-combatant casualties. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/6 "2006-11-19T17:15:02Z")
I think he’s talking about busting a Moab upside Qaeda-house in Tikrit, regardless of how badly that might piss off Sunni factions in the government. Such a course might let us quickly kill off a bunch of the bad guys, if we have sufficient actionable intelligence. The trouble is we _don’t_, and most of what we do have likely comes through the government. That’d dry up fast and we’d be left with bombs, but no place to bomb. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/7 "2006-11-19T17:20:28Z")
Drop in South Lebanon as an example of what can happen - also the phrase ‘irrevocable allies’ Personally I would do a deal with The Sudan to sort out Darfour The USA and the UK need to convert a disaster into a victory, extreme violence will suppress local tumults - but only if it **seen** to be effective. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/8 "2006-11-19T17:33:38Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] Please explain what you mean by “our way”. I was under the impression we were fighting this conflict our way; that is, amongst other things, by attempting, however inadequately, to minimize non-combatant casualties. [/QUOTE] By destroying the enemy. This morning on This Week, Fareed Zacharia said that Iraqi officials won’t allow us to go after the enemy. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/9 "2006-11-19T17:43:01Z")
Yes, yes! Declare victory and pull out! Worked out fine for the [Vietnamese.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396668) **Eventually.** ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/10 "2006-11-19T17:44:38Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] By destroying the enemy. This morning on This Week, Fareed Zacharia said that Iraqi officials won’t allow us to go after the enemy. [/QUOTE] Perhaps because so many of the officials have “the enemy” for first cousins? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/11 "2006-11-19T17:44:58Z")
Who is the “enemy?” ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/12 "2006-11-19T18:12:51Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Yes, yes! Declare victory and pull out! Worked out fine for the [Vietnamese.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396668) **Eventually.** [/QUOTE] No not at all like Viet Nam… no helicopters from the tops of buildings. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/13 "2006-11-19T18:13:57Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Who is the “enemy?” [/QUOTE] The people who are shooting at us and setting off bombs…don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/14 "2006-11-19T18:19:10Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Groovy. Sign right here. What size combat boot do you take? [/QUOTE] Fortunately I don’t have to nor do you…that’s what the military is for… the majority will be happy to be able to do their job. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/15 "2006-11-19T18:19:51Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] No not at all like Viet Nam… no helicopters from the tops of buildings. [/QUOTE] I was referring to the aftermath . . . both short-term and long-term. If we pull out, the government **will** fall. In the short term that will shed a lot of blood, as in Vietnam. In the long term (we’re talking at least a decade) it might be the best thing that ever happened to Iraq, as the Communist victory was, on that time-scale, the best thing that ever happened to Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/16 "2006-11-19T18:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] The people who are shooting at us and setting off bombs…don’t you think? [/QUOTE] Don’t you think that if we are indiscriminate in killing the people shooting at “us” and setting off bombs, we run the risk of creating more people who want to shoot at us and set off bombs? There isn’t a finite number of “terrorists” and when you kill the last one, you are done. New ones are made every day and heavy handed tactics breed heavy handed reactions. Your plan would seem to stir up the hornets’ nest and then leave the Iraqi people to the mess we created. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/17 "2006-11-19T18:21:00Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] The people who are shooting at us and setting off bombs…don’t you think? [/QUOTE] Who’s “us”? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/18 "2006-11-19T18:21:06Z")
[Quote=What the … !!!] By destroying the enemy. This morning on This Week, Fareed Zacharia said that Iraqi officials won’t allow us to go after the enemy. [/Quote] Oh, well, if that’s the case, why are we even hanging about, then? If the Iraqi government doesn’t want our help, let’s bring the boys and girls home. No problem. Oh, and I would approcate it if you would not use ambiguous language if you feel our military is behaving in an insuffciently brutal manner in Iraq. Please give us some idea what level of non-combatant casualties you would accept as part of supposedly doing things “our way”. Right now, it’s not entirely clear, but are you advocating the indiscriminate destruction of general areas where “the enemy” is deemed to be present, or what? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/19 "2006-11-19T18:23:14Z")
Er, “approcate”= appreciate. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038/20 "2006-11-19T18:28:35Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] The people who are shooting at us and setting off bombs…don’t you think? [/QUOTE] I can assure you that when U.S. troops see someone shooting at them and setting off bombs, they go after him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iraq-war-pull-out-with-victory/381038.md?page=2)