Readers comments on leaving:
Not every Democracy has to go through a civil war to create a civil society. The current situation was forced upon the Iraqis by small groups of 'spoilers', tapping into old (ancient even) rivalries and more recent injustices done under Saddam. The majority of Iraqis do not want to fight a civil war, which was not the case in America before its civil war.
"More troops" is not the simplest options, it's the focal point or starting off point so that other options can get started or completed. There is always a catch-22 with that, but that's the reckoning. It's not a panacea, it's a greater dose of medicine in the hopes to clear the arteries, temporarily, while the Iraqi corpus comes to terms, nationally or municipally.
500,000 is not needed (in the near term, at least - it might be needed in a regional war, however, right?). This estimate included portions of the South and the North, which do not require troops. No one knows the right amount - it has to be a bottom up estimate, an aggregation. One cannot just make a W.A.G.
Dec. 7:
Elsewhere in Iraq yesterday, Iraqi police forces with coalition advisors conducted a raid in Abdan, near Tal Afar. They captured an insurgent associated with al Qaeda in Iraq and detained seven suspects during the operation. Military officials said they believe the captured insurgent has supplied weapons and money to al Qaeda in Iraq and provided enemy fighters a safe house for carrying out attacks against Iraqi security forces in the Tal Afar area.
In another raid yesterday in Bayji, Iraqi soldiers with coalition advisors captured an insurgent sniper believed to be responsible for direct and indirect attacks targeting coalition forces, including improvised-explosive-device and car-bomb attacks in the area, military officials said. The insurgent sniper is associated with other insurgent cells within Iraq. Iraqi forces also detained an additional suspect during the raid.
A day earlier, special Iraqi army forces with coalition advisors captured six suspected insurgents during a raid in Yusufiyah, south of Baghdad.
Military officials believe the insurgents are responsible for kidnappings, murders and improvised-explosive-device attacks against Iraqi civilians and security forces, military officials said. Iraqi forces detained nine additional suspects during the raid.
In the three raids this week, no Iraqi or coalition forces or Iraqi civilians were killed and only minimal damage was done to the objectives, military officials said.
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