The Center for American Progress (CAP), a Clintonian think tank, has released a document for U.S. military "Strategic Redeployment" that would start drawing troops from Iraq by January 2006.
This
is as close to "Out Now" as we are likely to get in this world! It also sounds like a more sensible way to: a) give the National Guard a major break, and b) use armed forces vs. terrorism.
More below.
Here are the guts of the plan as reported by Asia Times:
By the end of 2006, according to the plan, 80,000 of about 150,000 US troops currently deployed in Iraq would be withdrawn from the country, with all 46,000 National Guard and Reserve units demobilized and returned to the US.
The other 34,000 troops would be redeployed - 14,000 to Kuwait and in a Marine expeditionary force located off-shore in the Gulf, prepared to strike at specific terrorist targets; 18,000 to Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban insurgency; and 1,000 each to the Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia as part of the broader "war on terror", according to the 10-page document titled Strategic Redeployment: A Progressive Plan for Iraq and the Struggle Against Violent Extremists.
At the same time, the plan, co-authored by CAP associates Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis, calls for Washington to enlist regional states, including Iraq's next-door neighbors, in a major diplomatic initiative to ensure Iraq's stability. Such an initiative should include both Syria and Iran, both of which are considered by the George W Bush administration to be high-priority targets for "regime change".