Military Officials: US troop drawdown if escalation fails

For awhile, it looked like Bush had no backup plan -- and maybe he still lacks one.  But military planners are developing one of their own.  If the troop escalation strategy does not work, then military officials say that US troops will be taken off the streets:

American military planners have begun plotting a fallback strategy forIraq that includes a gradual withdrawal of forces and a renewedemphasis on training Iraqi fighters in case the current troop buildupfails or is derailed by Congress.

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

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

What a waste this endeavor has been.  It has been a waste of money, resources, manpower, and lives.  So how has this been a waste of lives, you ask?  Here is most recent example:

Thousands of British troops are facing permanent psychological damageafter fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, a mental health charity haswarned, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

“New government figuresreveal that more than 2,100 soldiers have returned from Iraq since 2003suffering from some form of mental illness,” Sean Rayment writes in theBritish newspaper.

And Britain is supposed to be our number one ally.  Once Tony Blair resigns this year, the United States will be even more on its own.  Again, what a waste!