Take My Idea, Please

If George Bush wants to save face by pretending that phased redeployment was his idea all along, go ahead. Take it. None of us Democrats will complain even a little bit.

American military planners have begun plotting a fallback strategy for Iraq that includes a gradual withdrawal of forces and a renewed emphasis on training Iraqi fighters in case the current troop buildup fails or is derailed by Congress.

Such a strategy, based in part on the U.S. experience in El Salvador in the 1980s, is still in the early planning stages and would be adjusted to fit the outcome of the current surge in troop levels, according to military officials and Pentagon consultants who spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing future plans.

But a drawdown of forces would be in line with comments to Congress by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates last month that if the "surge" fails, the backup plan would include moving troops "out of harm's way." Such a plan also would be close to recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, of which Gates was a member before his appointment as Defense Department chief.

I would hope it didn't include the US-backed death squads prevalent in El Salvador, but other than that it's essentially the Murtha strategy he articulated in late 2005. So if the Pentagon and the President want to triangulate on this one, by all means. I'm not going to fret over who owns what idea. If the troops get out of harm's way, I'm down.