Iraqis live in a dangerous neighborhood. Continuing American assistance and training is essential. But the number of U.S. troops will diminish over time, and they will focus on fewer tasks. The fact that some U.S. forces are likely to remain for the long-term is hardly unusual: U.S. troops have been in Bosnia (where President Bill Clinton sent them) for years; U.S. forces have been in South Korea (where President Truman sent them), and in Germany and Japan (where President Roosevelt sent them) for more than half a century.
Nor does putting an agreement in place “constrain the next administration's options,” as one blogger quoted by MoveOn alleges. If President Bush’s successor wants a different agreement -- or no agreement at all -- there is nothing to stop him (or her) from making that decision.
But if Bush does manage to forge a stable working relationship with Iraq, he will have done a great favor for the next president. And leaving a larger rather than a smaller force in Iraq would particularly benefit a President Obama or Clinton. Why? Because that would allow Obama or Clinton to bring home more troops earlier – and take the credit -- without risking the substantial gains that have been made since the Petraeus mission began.
The last thing a Democrat entering -- or returning to -- the White House should want is to face a crisis in Iraq, with American troops operating in limbo, and Iraqi leaders angry at having been told to hurry up and wait by squabbling American politicians. What an opportunity that would be for al-Qaeda and Iraqi militias to test a new president’s mettle by seeing if they can’t take back some of the ground they’ve lost.
MoveOn’s hyper-partisans -- deeply invested in seeing Bush (and America) defeated in Iraq -- may prefer such a scenario to diplomacy, cooperation and increased Iraqi freedom and independence. But no politician who is either savvy or principled – of either party – should stand with them.