Meehan: Pull troops from Iraq, but slowly

[struggle4progress]

By Evan Lehmann, Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON With the bloody insurgency in Iraq overshadowing the country's move toward democracy, members of Congress are calling for a phased withdrawal of American forces.

The announcement of a massive troop draw-down, from 150,000 now to as few as 30,000 by mid-2006, will "splinter" the insurgency and turn rebel fighters upon each other, according to a detailed report by U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan.

Meehan, a Lowell Democrat who returned from a fact-finding mission to Iraq last week, believes the president's plan to crush the insurgency with bullets and bombs has fueled the resistance, making it larger and more deadly.

"The United States is past the point of opportunity to defeat the insurgency with overwhelming military force," Meehan says in his 20-page report. "The violence continues to escalate in the short-term regardless of our actions." <snip>

http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4746~2669574,00.html