British Want To Concentrate On Afghanistan

It looks like there's more bad news for Bush and his disastrous war in Iraq. At the same time that he's saying the "surge" is just beginning, the British are sounding like they may soon be withdrawing from Iraq.

The head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, says the British Army is being stretched too thin, and they will not be able to deploy any more soldiers to Iraq. They already have plans to withdraw into a redoubt at the Basra Airport, and turn over the rest of Basra Province to Iraqi control. Many believe this is a prequel to a full British withdrawal from Iraq.

Unlike Bush, who is perfectly willing to continue an unending occupation of Iraq, the British don't see what can be gained from remaining there indefinitely. The British see the Afghani conflict as the true battle against terrorism, and that is where they want to focus their efforts.

A British spokesman defended their withdrawal to the Basra Airport saying, "This is not a new plan at all. It's good for the Iraqis, it's good for us and we will eventually see here Iraqi solutions for Iraqi problems and that has to be the way ahead." The British are right. No one can force a solution in Iraq. There must be an Iraqi solution for the Iraqi problem.

It's time for Bush to realize this, no matter how much he wants the Iraqi oil. It doesn't matter how long we stay in Iraq, we will not be able to solve the Iraqi conflict. They are going to have to settle their own civil war themselves, the same way we had to settle our own. The only thing we can accomplish by staying is to get more American soldiers killed.

And while we are wasting our time in Iraq, the true terrorists (the Taliban and al-Queda) are growing stronger in Afghanistan. Again, the British are right. It is in Afghanistan that the real war on terror is being fought. We should never have withdrawn the bulk of our troops from there before the job was finished.

But that is not the only bad news for Bush. The Center for American Progress and Foreign Policy Magazine conducted a survey of 100 American foreign policy experts. Most of those experts agreed that:

* The world is growing more dangerous.

* Our national security strategy is in disrepair.

* The war in Iraq is alarmingly off-course.

* The "surge" is having a negative impact on our national security.

We must end this madness in Iraq and bring our troops home immediately -- all of them.