Cutting and Running?

Interesting points by William Odom about the concept of cutting and running from Iraq.   Here's a thinking conservative's take on Murtha vs Mirtha by David Adesnik.  And defense hawk Rep Norm Dicks laments the labelling of dissenting voices as "peaceniks," etc.

Some thoughts I have though:
    The Republicans in Congress offered a resolution of their own as a red herring the other day, in a very dishonest and cynical move.   Murtha's proposal involved termination and deployment "at the earliest practicable date," leaving  "a quick-reaction U.S. force and an over-the-horizon presence of U.S Marines" in the region.  The Republicans decided to offer NO planning stage at all and then called it a referendum on Murtha's idea.   Clownish.  That was a low point.
    Were they right that most Americans would be fooled anyway?
    Bush is a curiosity.  He risked going it alone while begging others to join us in taking down a ruthless dictator (among so many in this world), creating a fantastic opportunity for Bin Laden -- the one we should have gotten -- and Al Queda to enter via unprotected borders and recruit wildly based on the instability and destruction that followed.  Now Al Queda has a central staging area and over-willing recruits they couldn't have managed without W's help.
    So, no, some of us are not for 'cutting and running' without some plan in place to protect the Iraqis who chose to be on our side.  On the other hand, it's crucial to stop sending young people there (with many mandatory repeats) to be maimed or killed to help GWB  'free' other countries to go crazy, so that he could get the guy who "tried to kill my dad!"
    One other thing:  Bush said this week that we wouldn't leave until the mission was accomplished.   Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he already tell us it was - some time ago?