I am frankly sick and tired of hearing the "dire warnings" coming out of the White House. This is just more double speak. Has everyone who was alive during Vietnam era got amnesia??? I truly wish the debate (not online, but in person) that we were promised about this war would happen. If the 80% of Americans that want our troops home could see each other in person, the war would be over in a few weeks. As for those who started it, I advocate tar and feathers.

MYTH: They are going to come and get us here
FACT: They are going to come and get us here - but this is NOT contingent on pulling US troops out of Iraq. Fact is there are people out there who want to win the holy war of the 8th century. We will have to face this and there will be attacks on US soil, but this is going to happen whether there are US troops in Iraq or not.

MYTH: Iraq is going to collapse as soon as US withdraws.
FACT: To a certain extent this is also true, but how bad can it get? Certainly not worse than it is now. Furthermore, now that the administration has finally been pressured to open talks with Iran, we could enlist help there. Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc - they are not going to allow a fire on their borders. They are more interested than we are to solve this crisis.

MYTH: The Iraquis want us there.
FACT: This depends on who you ask. Most do not want us there.

MYTH: We are gaining good will
FACT: We are training radicals to kill us.

MYTH: We are nation building
FACT: The Bush Administration is installing permanent bases in Iraw. They want the oil

Sent by Jeff Rapport | 2:13 PM ET | 05-29-2007

As a retired US Army logistics officer, the time to start making these plans for any significant exit is now. The lead time is critical for any intelligent sequential withdrawal. also, lift assets must be considered. I doubt if the plan should include leaving the equipment in country to be provided to the Iraqi army. The decision to return equipment needs to be made now.

Sent by Jeff Leaman, Major, USA Ret | 2:14 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Does Sadam have any relatives who would be interested in his old job? He really did a great job of keeping the Iraqi people from killing one another. His means may have been extreem, but they certianly were effective.

Sent by Mohamed Abdullah Abu Jihad al Kamelpoo | 2:22 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I think this new "exit strategy" by Bush is a political ploy to have the Republicans retake the White House in 2008. Isn't it funny that he does this a week after vetoing the Democrats attempt to have a timeline?

Sent by John Silvernale | 2:25 PM ET | 05-29-2007

best graduation speech was by western author, terry tempest williams at the university of utah about 4 years ago. "the open space of democracy" was so moving and so inspiring about our need to communicate openly about government policies, the audience rose in unison at the end -- except for Utah's two senators, orrin hatch and bob bennett, who not only did not stand, but did not applaud at all. it was quite a moment.

Sent by carol werner | 2:39 PM ET | 05-29-2007

The discussion presumes that Iraq has an actual government. The putative government of Iraq governs nothing. The local regimes, some tribal some religious, are free to exterminate people seen as their opponents, frequently with the collusion of supposed government officials. The number of religious minorities killed exceeds the number of total civilian deaths admitted by the pentagon. This is not and insurgency but anarchy. It is hard to see the purpose of counterinsurgency tactics in this context.

Sent by Steve Goodell | 2:41 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Regarding commencement speeches.... I recently heard an excellent one, given by Gerald Marxman at Monmouth College, which can be read at:

http://www.monm.edu/scotlight/2007/marxman_address.htm

A good graduation speech is one that comes from the experience and life of the speaker... a living example of the words. Check this one out!

Sent by Lisa Gruver | 3:00 PM ET | 05-29-2007

I think we should pull out our troops and blow up the equipment. Don't leave Iraq anything if we can help it. All the equipment is by the mouth of the atthority old and needs replacement any how.
Who are they trying to full. It is not the troops it is the equipment they can't get out in a hurry.

Sent by Margaret Leafe | 4:24 PM ET | 05-29-2007

Saddam was "cruel" but effective?

He was a monster and getting just as many people killed in Iraq through starving them in UN sanctions and/or killing them himself while harboring and providing safehaven for hundreds of terrorists. He was more than just a "bad guy."

Sent by ike | 6:05 PM ET | 05-29-2007

After listening and reading about an Exit Strategy for Iraq, I am reminded of the Saigon SNAFU back in April of 1975. I wonder if Nixon & Ford thought then that there Exit Strategy was smart and sound? Afterall, America was stuck in a civil war between North & South Vietnam for over a decade. But it was deeper than just geography. The South Vietnamese have always hated their Northern neighbors long before the French exploited this fact to keep the colony divided and thus an attempt to weaken the nationalist rebels who were determined to overthrow the puppet government. Actually there are three main groups of ethnic populations in Vietnam, the North, Central and Southern people. They share one common language but the dialects are very distinctly different. Also different are their food, clothing and distinguishable facial features. Befriend any recent or long established Vietnamese Americans and they will tell you that even here in America, the Northerners and Southerners tend to associate and marry stick their own kind. So with all of this, what make Ford & Kissinger think that we were just going to pull out and that they would somehow just work it out and make peace? Yes, peace did indeed come to Vietnam but at the expense of the Southern (and Central ) Vietnamese. The elite and intellectual South Vietnamese either immigrated to the West or were put in reeducational camps to die or rot. Western tourists should not be so naive as to think that the economic rebirth of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) signifies peace and unity. There is still much economic, educational and political disparity in Vietnam. As we discuss exit strategy in Iraq, let us not forget about numerous possible realistic scenarios for the future and not focus just on the ultimate rosy dream that may never become a reality.

Sent by Clarissa in Iowa (immigrated to US in 1975 from Saigon) | 12:01 AM ET | 05-31-2007