Douglas Ollivant demands that zero American troops be left in Iraq after this year:
The debate over the U.S. military presence is distracting policymakers from the real issues in the United States' future relationship with Iraq — the role of the State Department (and particularly its ambitious police-training mission) and of the American business community. It is these two instruments of U.S. "soft power" that will shape U.S.-Iraq relations going forward, and to put it frankly, the sooner the military can get out of their way, the better.
Amen. I hear the Pentagon is relentless in wanting another satrapy – but that we may be able to get away with 3,000 trainers out of Iraq to help train the Iraqi military. They key thing for me is their departure from Iraqi soil entirely. We can still help if necessary – but from a distance. It's vital we signal to the world that we have left, never to return again.
(Photo: As soldiers clean and repair military vehicles before their departure to the United States a gun hangs from truck door at U.S. military base Kalsu on July 18, 2011 in Iskandariya, Babil Province, Iraq. By Spencer Platt/Getty Images.)
The Dish 