Ryan's First Tour Of Duty Report

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Now that Rep. Paul Ryan is back from his first tour of duty in Iraq, we can all breathe a little easier knowing that he supports the idea that if by the end of the summer this troop surge is not working we will have to start withdrawing the troops.

Lets not fool ourselves folks, the House or the Senate are basically powerless to do anything about this war no matter what statements they make or resolutions they pass. This war belongs to Bush, his administration and to a lesser extent, the Republicans. They broke it, they own it and we must not allow ourselves (democrats) to get caught in a scapegoat trap. Ryan’s comments were promising because as I’ve said here before, it doesn’t matter how right or how much noise the Democrats make, nobody is listening. The narrow-minded pro-war supporters still believe WMD are in Iraq, Saddam was connected to 9/11 and that our presence there has thwarted terror attacks here. Democrats are never going to convince this bunch of anything otherwise.

One of the things I gathered from Ryan's comments was the fact that he laid out what many democrats have been asking for – a timeline. He said that if things don’t go well within six months we must go to plan B and begin withdrawing troops. I have to assume that his idea of things not going well is either the Iraqi’s don’t step up to plate and take control of their own country or that opposition to our occupation has grown. He made it clear, it’s the Iraqi’s last chance.

Brian W.(blogger):
Wow. Sounds like surrender or defeat are a liberal's ONLY options. Hey, why not? The Democrats caused the deaths of millions by fleeing Vietnam and refusing to support our allies there (anybody here remember the killing fields of Cambodia? That was the result of a liberal victory).

There's nothing like the element of surprise during a war I say, I'm just glad it was Ryan who said it. After six months Ryan gives the clear impression he would support troop withdrawal.

MSNBC Excerpt:
“In my mind, if by the end of the summer, it’s clear that this isn’t working, we’re going to have to go to Plan B and start withdrawing troops.” – Paul Ryan

Of course we can also assume that if Iraqis gain control or the insurgency pulls back and the violence subsides within six months, things are going well and our troops would no longer be needed there and a drawdown would finally begin. Either way, Ryan stated a timeline consisting of a mid-way check point of three months within a a six month last chance plan.

Pundit Nation Excerpt:
"This whole thing is a big gamble, but it's probably the best gamble to take before throwing in the towel and allowing sectarian genocide to take over," said Ryan, who was visiting Iraq for the first time.

Throwing in the towel?! You're not trying to embolden the enemy, are you? Again, I’m not trying to make it look like Ryan knows what he’s talking about, I’m just convinced that all of the decisions regarding this war have been made by Bush and his Republicans, and nothing will change until they say so. We need to keep it that way.