Governor Bill Richardson’s plan isn’t nuanced:
That means no airbases, no embedded soldiers training Iraqi forces, no troops in the Green Zone. Zero troops. I would leave the customary marine contingent at our Embassy, but if that became unsafe, then I’d bring them home too. Only then can the diplomatic process of reconciliation and reconstruction truly begin, and the US must lead the way in making it happen.
Some commentors on Huffpo objected, saying that it would take a long time to remove all those troops. Another commentor responded:
I’m not a logistics expert, but how do 80,000+ fans leave the Rose Bowl, get in your gas guzzling SUV and drive. We only have 160,000? troops there. Airlift some equipment/personel from Baghdad then move the rest north toward NATO Turkey and south to Kuwait, with air support. The bigger risk to the troops is if they stay there. I don’t think you need 6 months to do that, maybe 6 days. I think most Iraqis would be thrilled to let us leave peacefully.
Richardson is one of the Democrats running for President. Here is Richardson’s campaign site.