Feingold's ideas on Iraq taking root

This tidbit from The Note, by ABC News's political unit:

The Wall Street Journal's Greg Jaffe has U.S. commanders (sounding an awful lot like Sen. Russ Feingold) as they suggest that US troop reductions could "help tamp down the insurgency by persuading fiercely nationalistic Iraqis that the US occupation won't continue indefinitely. These officials argues that the presence of US troops on Iraqi streets has become an irritant."

Feingold, the first to propose a target date for withdrawal of US troops, argues that the US military presence is helping recruit terrorists and weakening our security. For example, on Meet The Press back in August, Feingold said:

What I'm suggesting is we can have a middle course, a course that allows us for success in Iraq and allows us to return to the larger issue, which is the fight against terrorism all around the world. Let me add also that it helps the Iraqi people feel ownership of this process. It helps the authorities interact, the Iraqis be more credible, because it doesn't look like it's an American dominated operation. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, it helps really take away the ability of these terrorists, al-Zarqawi and others, who say, "Hey, come to Iraq. It's a permanent American occupation." That's how they're recruiting people--and many experts, including military experts, have said that's a good way to get away from that.

The whole story:

Troop-Rotation Plan for Iraq
Could Draw Down U.S. Forces
By GREG JAFFE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon announced a troop-rotation plan for Iraq that could significantly reduce the number of U.S. forces there over the next 18 months.

Senior defense officials cautioned that the plan didn't amount to a commitment or even a formal blueprint to cut troop strength. Any move to reduce forces will depend on conditions on the ground in Iraq, these officials said.

The Pentagon identified units totaling about 92,000 troops for the next major rotation into Iraq beginning in mid 2006. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking to the Associated Press, said the 92,000 didn't necessarily represent a final figure and that other troops could be added to the rotation plan in coming weeks or months.

The U.S. has about 160,000 troops in Iraq. The additional troops will be in place through the December elections.

The troop-rotation plan, however, is a sign that if Iraqi Army and police forces continue to progress as planned and if security in the country improves, a drawdown in U.S. forces could happen as soon as next year. Along those lines, a Pentagon spokesman described the troop-rotation plan as a "path to decision making," but not necessarily a path to "[troop] reductions."

Mr. Rumsfeld has said repeatedly that the U.S. will only reduce forces if senior generals on the ground in Iraq and the Middle East say that conditions call for a reduction.

Military analysts said there are pressures on the Pentagon to reduce forces. In particular, some analysts worry that the strain on the U.S. Army could become untenable next year if the Army is required to keep current troop levels in Iraq. "The active component and the reserves are about to hit a wall in 2006. [The rotation plan] seems to make a virtue out of necessity," said Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr., executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a small but influential defense think tank in Washington.

U.S. commanders also have suggested that U.S. troop reductions could help tamp down the insurgency by persuading fiercely nationalistic Iraqis that the U.S. occupation won't continue indefinitely. These officials argue that the presence of U.S. troops on Iraqi streets has become an irritant.