If not Murtha...
 

then perhaps we should listen to the Iraqi's themselves:

Iraqi Factions Seek Timetable for U.S. Pullout

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/international/middleeast/22arab.html

CAIRO, Nov. 21 - For the first time, Iraq's political factions on Monday collectively called for a timetable for withdrawal of foreign forces, in a moment of consensus that comes as the Bush administration battles pressure at home to commit itself to a pullout schedule.

The announcement, made at the conclusion of a reconciliation conference here backed by the Arab League, was a public reaching out by Shiites, who now dominate Iraq's government, to Sunni Arabs on the eve of parliamentary elections that have been put on shaky ground by weeks of sectarian violence.

About 100 Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders, many of whom will run in the election on Dec. 15, signed a closing memorandum on Monday that "demands a withdrawal of foreign troops on a specified timetable, dependent on an immediate national program for rebuilding the security forces," the statement said.

"The Iraqi people are looking forward to the day when foreign forces will leave Iraq, when its armed and security forces will be rebuilt and when they can enjoy peace and stability and an end to terrorism," it continued...

Here's another nugget of failed foreign policy in the region:
November 22, 2005
Khamenei Urges Iraqis to Tell Occupiers to Go
By REUTERS

Filed at 10:23 a.m. ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged visiting Iraqi officials on Tuesday to ask U.S.-led forces to leave their country and pledged Tehran's cooperation in restoring security to Iraq.

Khamenei's meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the first Iraqi leader to visit Iran for nearly four decades, underscored improving relations between two countries who fought a grueling 1980-1988 war in which hundreds of thousands died.

U.S. and British officials have often accused Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs by arming militant groups.

But Khamenei said violence in Iraq was the fault of the U.S.-led forces who are there.

``Iran considers the United States to be responsible for all crimes and terrorist acts in Iraq and the suffering and misery of the Iraqi people,'' he said, according to state television.

``The Iraqi people may ask the occupiers to leave Iraq by setting a timetable for them ... In the end, Iraq and its neighbors will remain in this region while the U.S. will only be there temporarily,'' he said.

Khamenei said accusations that Iran was undermining security in Iraq were baseless and propagated by those who did not want to see improved ties between the two countries.

``Your security is our own security and Iran honors Iraq's independence and power,'' the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. ``We will extend assistance to you in those fields,'' he added.

Iran (or Syria) helping out in Iraq is a scary thing. Who knows, it might work, or at least better than us being there.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1132694746.jpg

Unlike Vietnam, the military has made little effort to teach local languages to the troops, and has overall made moves to reduce interaction. This has only made things more polarized, IMHO, since exposure to our people was one of our greatest assets in prior occupations. When each side sees the other as basically decent, you don't get nearly half the population supporting attacks on the troops.

Sorry, that's what I get for flying to MN today.

Anyone see the news that the Iraqi Dept. of State (I think) has strong ties to Iran? I heard it in passing on NPR I think.

Well those two countries made that financial/military agreement a couple months back...so this is not suprising.

It is important to have at least some sort of relationship with your neighbors. We have to pretend to like Canada sometimes too.