By Kevin Stoda

Dear U.S. Senators and Congressmen,

I received in an e-mail today a simple and clear plan to get the U.S. forces out of Iraq as soon as possible and to help the people of Iraq take responsibility for our mess—while we remain helpful to them in rebuilding their depressed country, i.e. their country, which we tore up in 2003 and failed to build as soon as was possible.

The plan is called “A RESPONSIBLE PLAN TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ” and begins by noting that General Petraeus, himself, doesn’t think there is any short, medium, or long term solution for the war in Iraq to be found on the battlefield.

A short synapses of this plan is found here:

http://www.responsibleplan.com/plan

According to the authors of the 7-step plan (including many of Americans best diplomatic thinkers and participants in many wars and battles & international negotiations), there are two major steps to be considered and serious steps to be undertaken:

First, “How do we bring American military engagement in Iraq to a responsible end?”

Answer: “There is no military solution to the problems faced in Iraq: the real progress that can be made requires diplomatic, political, and economic means. We must stop counter-productive military operations by U.S. occupation forces and end our military presence in Iraq.”

Second, “How do we prevent a repeat of the mistakes we've made?

Answer: “The breakdown of checks and balances in our government led to bad decision-making which damaged America's national security. Ending this war and preventing future situations like it requires that we restore these Constitutional checks and balances and fix the ways in which our governmental, military, and civil institutions have failed us.”

The full document can be found here:

http://www.responsibleplan.com/o/2757/images/responsible_plan.pdf

It is now mid-March 2008. Let’s get this started, CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS, by the end of the week—or impeach anyone who gets in the way!!!!!!