Barack Obama's strategic withdrawal plan offers a thoughtful, reasoned, appropriate response to ending our presence in Iraq. As published in the New York Times, his plan calls for a two-year withdrawal schedule, with security transitioning to Iraqi forces. Obama's plan is a refreshing change from the misguided, mal-intended, ideologically-driven policy the Bush administration and McCain are espousing.

One of Obama's key points is that our preoccupation with Iraq has come at the expense of dealing with other problems more genuinely associated with terrorism, and has stretched our resources such that we are losing ground in Afghanistan. Obama's article focuses on the situation facing our military, so he does not really address domestic issues, but the impact of the exponential expenditures for the Iraqi military operation is surely felt domestically. Open any newspaper and see just how poorly off the average family is doing on all fronts - with respect to housing, credit, fuel prices, layoffs, education funding cuts, etc...

Obama successfully puts forth a proposal that challenges the original assumptions behind intervention, identifies a withdrawal timetable, and supports the contributions that have been made by our military, while recognizing the need to a return to Iraqi sovereignty. He thwarts potential criticism based on patriotism by suggesting that those who employ this tactic are fighting ideas with rhetoric, which is precisely what happened during the 2004 election between George Bush and John Kerry. I can only hope that these words of deceit and slander emanating from the GOP will not overcome logic and rationale come next November.