Why an Early Withdrawl is a BAD Idea

Here's a snippet from a wonderful post on the Anchoress' blog:

In order to succeed they (the Iraqi people--Oyarsa) need two things. They need time - to train their forces and police and to get their political infrastructure established. They need reassurance that America will not desert them when their success is so tantalizingly close.

In order for the Iraq move to Democracy to fail and to descend into murderous chaos, the insurgents need only two things, too. They need the press and the politicians to continue to dwell on negatives and call for withdrawal of our troops. They need to see America “end this war” not in victory but in turmoil and shame. And they need the troops to abandon the people.

Just like, you know, Vietnam. Then they can create their own Killing Fields. And America can descend into isolationist revelry for as long as she lasts - which will not be long, because a great nation that has spilled its blood for freedom will have now twice been seen to lack the spirit to finish what it has begun. A nation that cannot keep its committments cannot be trusted to lead, and if America does not lead, she will die, for she will never follow.

Hard to top that, Anchoress, but I'll try.

To those who have been demanding for us to leave prematurely, are you willing to pay the penalty? Terrorists around the globe will smell our weakness--and they will see it as weakness, and they will exploit it. Imagine an attack hundreds of times worse than we saw on 9-11.

Furthermore, the call to leave before the time is right bespeaks of childishness and immaturity. It is the child, not the mature adult, who wants to run and hide rather than take responsibility for the broken cookie jar. It is the teenager, not the mature adult, who wants her parents to give her a break when she totals the car, or finds herself in an unplanned pregnancy. Why do they do this? They hope they can minimalize the cost to them. And some parents let them get away with it. But, ultimately, the children hurt themselves, just as the U.S. will hurt itself with the call to pull out prematurely. When that happens, those who called for us to pull out will likely be the same ones who complain that we didn't keep on the terrorists long enough. Mark my words.

--Oyarsa