Another way 'round

Alter has a good piece up at Newsweek about the dire need for a real debate about how best to end our occupation in Iraq. Here's a snippet:

we should be holding a big national debate about whether the presence of U.S. troops reduces the insurgency or fuels it, whether timetables for withdrawal embolden the terrorists or motivate Iraqi forces to perform better. Instead of cut-and-run versus more-of-the-same, we need a few imaginative "Third Way" alternatives. (The GOP's hastily called vote on more-timely progress reports from Iraq doesn't qualify.) Maybe they won't bear scrutiny, but why not give them a look?

I couldn't have said it better myself. This is what needs to be happening right now. Fingerpointing may be fun and politically expedient at times, but it's also a waste of time right now. We need substantive discussion and debate on how to close the deal on this thing. It's too important to fuck around with for the sake of politics:

The stakes in Iraq are higher than in Southeast Asia 40 years ago. Failure would give Al Qaeda a huge base from which to kill us. But for now it looks as if we'll keep sinking in the quicksand, with no consensus, no substantive debate and no end to the finger-pointing. It's almost enough to make you nostalgic for Vietnam.

It's time to shake off the paralysis and wake up to the fact that, Republican or Democrat, we're all screwed if this thing goes completely down the shitter.