There's no such thing as an "exit strategy"

The Globe and Mail ^ | April 25th 2007 | Lewis MacKenzie

[oakcon]

Pardon my rant, but this ridiculous debate about when we should abandon, retreat, wave goodbye to Afghanistan is getting under my skin. Considering the sacrifices of Canadians killed and maimed to date, and those of their families and loved ones, the "let's go home" crowd just doesn't get it.

Western democratic governments of all political stripes have spent the past four decades, post-Vietnam, agonizing over the criteria to be applied when determining if their nation should deploy in support of a war effort. Overworked bureaucratic terminology such as "an identifiable end-state," "adequate resources to ensure victory," "willing partners" and, the pièce de résistance, "an exit strategy!" show up ad nauseam. And yet every minute dedicated to developing such criteria is a total waste of time because governments never apply the criteria when making the decision to go to war. That decision is based on national self-interests as determined by the government of the day, the majority of those interests being much broader than the specifics surrounding the war itself.

The criterion that most entertains members of the military over a beer is the political concept of an "exit strategy." There is no such thing.

[oakcon]

Leave it to MacKenzie to tell things straight. Maybe, just maybe people will listen to someone who's been a UN peacekeeper. You never know.

[Tallguy]

A publicly enunciated “Political Exit Strategy” is just a blueprint for the enemy. It tells them, “If we can do X, the Americans will leave and we will have defeated them.”

[Puddleglum]

A publicly enunciated “Political Exit Strategy” is just a blueprint for the enemy. It tells them, “If we can do X, the Americans will leave and we will have defeated them.”

I think that if the US troops relocated to Tehran and Damascus, the Iraq violence would taper off. I am reminded of how the USA island-hopped to Japan in WWII. When you can't take a battle to the source, up the supply route, you are in trouble.

[edcoil]

What is our exit strategy for Germany?

[PzLdr]

The “exit strategy” is called victory. Nothing less.

[agere_contra]

What is our exit strategy for Germany?

Well, exactly.

[TFMcGuire]

Exit Strategy?

We win; They lose!

[IamConservative]

I do not think we should ever (again) deploy an invading military presence with anything less than a declaration of war. The legislative branch should never delegate this authority to the President. Once declared, the authority for prosecuting the war rest with the President.