How to Transition Out of Iraq

It's time for the US to carve out a practical strategy in Iraq, David Ignatius argues in the Washington Post. At a cost of $400 million a day, the war is draining America's economy—precisely what Osama bin Laden hoped for. The solution will not be quick, simple, or easy, but rather "ambiguous, messy, occasionally in the shadows."

The US needs to scale down its presence in Iraq and cut behind-the-scenes deals with unlikely allies including Iran, Ignatius writes in laying out a plan. The soldiers that remain in the country should help train the Iraqi army and hunt al-Qaeda. "We need to focus on what General Petraeus has called 'sustainable security,'" says someone who helped write the general’s Iraq plan. (More Iraq stories.)