Soldier speaks of the importance of withdrawal, Lieberman says never.

A soldier in Iraq:
" I am currently serving in Iraq and have a few words about this place.

"First of all, and most importantly, we are doing no good here. There is nothing we can do at this point to end the fighting. It has become systematic throughout the country. The corruption is indeed as they say in the press. It is impossible, even if America wanted to, to reconstruct anything because the men that could and should assist have been fired by those who are corrupt and in power. Additionally, those that do want to make a change are hampered by a constitution that is, at best, a joke. The Iraqi constitution is an amalgamation of old and new, federal and central. The result is an inability to get anything done at the provincial level, with regards to reconstruction, because most decisions are made by the central government. Nothing can be enforced because of federalism. Thus the mess is structural, cultural, and created by the United States.

"I do not say these things lightly. I have witnessed this first hand, through meeting locals. I have also done much research on the structural issues. I am also so fed up with this mess. I honestly came to this country hoping, despite my politics, to at least do some good. Yet, now all I want is for us to get out as soon as possible. I do not speak in isolation. Nearly every military and civilian I work with feels the same aimless drift here. Especially since the election, we are all waiting and hoping that something will be decided soon. We all hope that we are not held hostage to political games in WashingtonWe all know that this is a fight not worth fighting and with no possible chance for “victory”. Thus, we hope for change as soon as possible so that we may get out before a sniper finds us, or an IED destroys us. We see that it is only going to get worse for us.

"In my judgment withdrawal is already creeping, but in a way that is dangerously slow. It was as though it was designed to stay below the radar. In other words, cut back a little here and there, as far as troops go. I honestly think the best thing for us to do is to pull back. We have no good options and that is the least bad for us. We can’t after all our rhetoric engineer a coupe to put in a strong man. We can’t add more troops, as that is part of the problem. Honestly at this point the American public would not support an increase large enough to fix this, and we do not have the troops to give. Partition is happening on the ground, you can see that in Kurdistan."

Lieberman:

"Sen. Joe Lieberman, may have agreed to caucus with the Democrats in the next congressional term, but the Connecticut independent made it clear Wednesday he would not hold the party line on a call for phased troop withdrawals."

[snip]

"Lieberman's comments are a sign his defeat in the Connecticut Democratic primary has not weakened his hawkish stance on Iraq. Connecticut Democrats voted Lieberman out of the party in August, opting for vehement antiwar candidate Ned Lamont. Lieberman, running as an independent candidate, defeated Lamont in the general election."