More progress in Iraq: Iraq proposes to take primary responsibility for the security of Baghdad early next year

An article in The New York Times by Michael Gordon and Sabrina Tavernise entitled "Iraq Army Plans for a Wider Role" reports that the Iraqis have presented the U.S. with a plan for Iraqi troops to take over exclusive responsibility for maintaining security in Baghdad early next year. This is a big step forward and illustrates how anxious the Iraqis are to get American forces and bureaucrats out of the picture ASAP. It shows that the Iraqis are starting to "get the picture" about standing on their own rather than sitting around and waiting for the U.S. to "do something."

I am actually in favor of the Bush administration's decision to resist a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. This "go slow" approach on the part of the U.S. only adds a strong incentive for the Iraqis to get their act together and push back against the U.S.

I remain confident that Iraq will quickly get to the point where they will be dictating a timeline for the early withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq.

We may still have significant forces in Iraq in 2008, but the numbers will be at least moderately smaller and it will no longer "feel" like we are "stuck" in a hopeless situation.

-- Jack Krupansky