Is to do what the military has to do anyway:
Lipinski and Kirk told the private gathering of members of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that they are speaking out together to forge a new path forward in Iraq.
“The best possible outcome for Democrats is to invite in Republicans such as Kirk to join us. I’m aware every Democrat will not support the Iraq Study Group and this bipartisan solution,” Lipinski said. “For the last four months, we’ve maintained the status quo because legislation brought forward could not be passed without a veto from the President.”
Both Lipinski and Kirk have said that the Iraq Study Group’s report, which was released in December, provides the best opportunity for a policy change. The report includes 79 recommendations.
The Lipinski-Kirk plan calls for a phased withdrawal similar to the one that U.S. Gen. David Petraeus outlined on Monday. Under the plan, one troop brigade would return to the U.S. in December and three more would be removed in the spring, without replacement. It would provide for troop levels in July 2008 of about 130,000, which is equal to “pre-surge” troop levels.
We are running out of troops and the surge level of troops can only be maintained through the spring when we have to reduce the forces in Iraq or readiness would suffer even more than it is now.
So these two brain-trusts want to force the President to do something he’s already going to have to do and that’s their idea of a compromise to go forward.
Who wants to break it to them that the bill does nothing?