The New Way Out - or A Revision of the Kerry Way Out?

Yesterday, I posted a piece about the Bush administration beginning to lay the groundwork for withdrawal in Iraq. Today, Newsweek is featuring a story, about the proposed plans of the Pentagon to begin a phased plan for withdrawal from Iraq.

If the Pentagon's plans sound familiar in some regards, it could be because they are quite similar to the plans first outlined by John Kerry a month ago in his speech at Georgetown, then subsequently submitted to the Senate when he introduced the “Strategy for Success in Iraq Act (S. 1993)” to the Senate on November 10th.

A few of the key similarities between the Pentagon Plan and the Kerry Plan are outlined below:

The Pentagon Plan:

** U.S. numbers are to be reduced back to about 138,000 by the new year (troop totals are now edging up to 160,000 leading into the December election).

The Kerry Plan:

·· The U.S. to begin a phased draw down of American troops as a series of military and political benchmarks is met, starting with a reduction of 20,000 troops over the holidays as the first benchmark -the successful completion of the December elections - is met.

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