US should pull out of Iraq now says former CIA chief John Deutch
07.15.2005, 07:59 AM

WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US should cut its losses, pull out of Iraq promptly
and never again use its military might to build a nation according to its
own values, former CIA chief John Deutch wrote in The New York Times.

US military presence in Iraq is harming US interests in the Arab world,
detracts attention from other 'important security challenges... North
Korea,
Iran and international terrorism,' and weakens the US military, said
Deutch,
who before heading the Central Intelligence Agency (1995-1996) was deputy
defence secretary (1994-1995).

'Those who argue that we should 'stay the course' because an early
withdrawal... would hurt America's global credibility must consider the
possibility that we will fail in our objectives in Iraq and suffer an even
worse loss of credibility down the road,' he said.

'I do not believe that we are making progress on any of our key objectives
in Iraq,' he said, adding that even when the Iraqi government appears to
be
functioning, 'the underlying destabilizing effect of the insurgency is
undiminished.'

Deutch's call comes amid plummeting US public support for the war, an
insurgency which sees a daily death toll hitting Iraqi civilians and
security personnel alike, and some 1,750 US soldiers dead since March
2003.

However, another recent survey shows that a majority of Americans backed
US
President George Bush's vow to maintain US troops in Iraq until the
country
can govern and control itself.

Rather than spend years, money and lives in Iraq to achieve 'minimum
conditions for withdrawal' -- security and a representative
self-government -- Deutch argues that a quick withdrawal now will avoid a
lot of grief to come.

'Our best strategy now is a prompt withdrawal plan consisting of clearly
defined political, military and economic elements,' including urging Iraq
and its neighbours to recognize that it will be in everyone's interest to
allow Iraq to 'evolve peacefully and without external intervention',
Deutch
said.