Korb on Withdrawal From Iraq

Lawrence Korb is one of America’s foremost military logistical thinkers. He authored a top to bottom force review emphasizing progressive defense goals and significant cost savings, which is itself a great tutorial on the American force structure and capabilities. He has also been a consistent and credible critic of the Bush Adminsitration’s National Security Strategy (pdf). I heartily recommend delving into Korb’s publication list to anyone who seeks to truly understand the American military, as opposed to simply having another opinion on the subject.

He has created a wholly realistic plan (pdf) for rapid (10-12 month) and complete withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Korb discusses the plan in this audio interview (mp3), and hits the highlights in the following promotional video:

The plan specifically addresses security issues between Turkey and the PKK that demonstrates the clarity with which Korb and his associates see the strategic environment in Iraq and the region. The plan was drawn before recent events with the Turkish parliament authorizing invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The plan also addresses resettlement of Iraqi civilian collaborators whose lives would be in great danger upon a general American withdrawal, which is a topic that even politicians who are in support of withdrawal are not addressing, yet constitutes one of the most challenging moral dilemmas of the Iraqi debacle.