Cut and Run? You Bet

One of the reasons I opposed the war on Iraq is that I couldn't foresee any outcome better than we have now. The mistake wasn't "lack of postwar planning" or other crap spewing from the mouths of pro-war Democrats; the invasion itself created a terrible mess that is impossible to fix no matter what is tried. Which makes pulling out as good an option as any. Better, in that it saves American lives and dollars.

Lt. Gen. William E. Odom has an excellent piece on why we should cut and run. I will comment on one point:

Withdrawal will encourage the terrorists. True, but that is the price we are doomed to pay. Our continued occupation of Iraq also encourages the killers—precisely because our invasion made Iraq safe for them. Our occupation also left the surviving Baathists with one choice: Surrender, or ally with al Qaeda. They chose the latter. Staying the course will not change this fact. Pulling out will most likely result in Sunni groups’ turning against al Qaeda and its sympathizers, driving them out of Iraq entirely.

I'm not sure how pulling out will "encourage" the terrorists at all. The cause of anti-American terrorism is American occupation and domination of the Middle East. The less we do that, the less terrorism we will see.