Jon Kyl: “Mr. Biddle provides a need evaluation of the flaws in the Baker-Hamilton. Among those flaws, as he explains, our combat…”

“Mr. Biddle provides a need evaluation of the flaws in the Baker-Hamilton. Among those flaws, as he explains, our combat forces are restraining the intensity of the violence in Iraq, and removing them would cause the violence to rise. This rise in violence would put the safety of Americans who remain to train Iraqis in even greater jeopardy. Of course, prematurely withdrawing our troops would have many other consequences. Indeed, a sobering assessment of the risks of withdrawal is too often missing from debates about the U.S. mission in Iraq. If U.S. combat forces withdraw from Iraq in the near future, three developments would be likely to unfold. Majority Shiites would drive Sunnis out of ethnically mixed areas west to Anbar province. Southern Iraq would erupt in civil war between Shiite groups. And the Kurdish north would solidify its borders and invite a U.S. troop presence there. In short, Iraq would effectively become three separate nations.”