James B. Cunningham: “I would--I would think it is important to get to a cease-fire as quickly as possible, particularly given the ongoing…”

It represents a new beginning for Iraq and marks a new phase in which Iraqis themselves will elect a government and write a new constitution.

I think that, under the circumstances, that timeline is probably too short and the rate of withdrawal is too steep.

I do not think there is a strategy of attrition or withdrawal that will work in any timeframe that we would want to see, certainly.

A flawed deal on withdrawal of U.S. forces--one not grounded in the context of an actual peace agreement--risks the collapse of Afghanistan into chaos.