the13thfloor

I actually found the vaunted Democratic plan for Iraq onThe Hill Blog in a response to a Barbara Boxer Post. In the next twelve months, we need to make substantial progress in turning over responsibility for the security of Iraq to the government and people of Iraq. To date, we have failed in this effort and the Administration must change its policies in Iraq if we are going to stem the bloodshed. To start, we should make it clear to the forces fomenting civil war - primarily the Sunni militants - that they can either rein in their violent supporters or face the prospect of a conflict with the majority Shiite forces that they would likely lose. In order to emphasize our commitment to this plan, we should begin to withdraw U.S. forces from selected parts of Iraq and replace them with Iraqi forces. This approach was first proposed by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, earlier this year in a Senate amendment. If this strategy succeeds, we should systematically withdraw more US troops as Iraqi forces are prepared to defend their new government. If the strategy falters, we should attempt to negotiate a three-state federation of Shiites, Sunni and Kurdish states, facilitating a divided but stable Iraq, and enabling withdrawal of US troops. Comment by N.J. Dem. Rep. Rob Andrews — October 18, 2006 @ 5:09 pm Just a few questions for Rep. Andrews: Could you please define 'substantial progress' as it pertains to tuning over responsibility for the security of Iraq to the Iraqi forces. It seems to me that the current administration has as one of the pillars of Victory In Iraq.It also seems to me that we have turned over control in many provinceshttp://www.defence.gov.au/minister/NelsonMintpl.cfm?CurrentId=5805 already.