On getting "OUT OF IRAQ NOW"

Yesterday Tom Hayden had an oped in the LA Times available here entitled "An Exit Strategy for Iraq Now." It is worth pulling out his action points:

• Washington should declare that it has no interest in permanent military bases or the control of Iraqi oil.

• Announce goals for ending the occupation and bringing all our troops home - in months, not years.

• US should request that the United Nations. . .monitor the process of military disengagement and de-escalation and take the lead in organizing a peaceful reconstruction effort.

• A US "peace envoy" should encourage and cooperate in peace talks with Iraqi groups opposed to the occupation, including insurgents, to explore a political settlement.

These certainly aren't my perfect description of what is needed; I think the third one is dubious and the last nonsense, actually. But in this moment when most people in the US are getting around for very mixed reasons to wanting the Iraq war done with, the peace movement needs to keep shouting from the housetops that an exit strategy is possible. Events are very likely to overrun anything activists in this country propose, but insisting our politicians start with these points is something we should all be able to work on.