The "trainer" theory

The one ISG proposal that the Bush administration seems to favor is the idea that training and equipping Iraqi forces is the way out. Now, to some degree, that's true, Iraq does need a stronger response, but the underlying idea that stronger Iraqi forces are the mechanism for a US withdrawal contains the same basic flaw that has hamstrung so much of this administration's Iraq policy.

This situation cannot be resolved by force. If it could, the US military would have accomplished it by now. Although a stronger Iraqi force will shift the balance a bit in any final negotiations, the only viable end is a political solution.

(And, by the way, I wonder at the wisdom of reducing troops while increasing trainers. It would seem that you could easily end up in a situation where alot of the 5,000 trainers end up exposed without enough backup. If their trainees flee or fight ineffectively, we could end up with alot of "handholders" in alot of trouble.)