Congressman Paul Ryan says the U.S. troop surge is Iraq's last chance. The Janesville Republican is just back from a trip to Iraq . Ryan says U.S. troops are doing their job, and morale remains good, so now it's up to the Iraqis. "The message that we delivered to the Iraqis . . is 'look, the American peoples' patience is wearing very, very thin. This is your last chance'"
Ryan says the new security plan originated with the Iraqis, and he believes they are on board with it, at least for now. "The Iraqis over the last ten or so days have been showing signs that they're going to be more evenhanded, in dealing with the Shias just as they're dealing with the Sunnis," he says. Ryan believes we should know within three to six months whether or not the new Iraq security plan is going to yield results. "I think this is the best chance for victory, and if this chance for victory doesn't succeed, then we're going to have to move to a plan B, and pull our troops out of harms way."
And what would plan B look like? Ryan suggests that Iraq's Shias, Sunnis and Kurds would have to fight it out among themselves. He says one real worry in that scenario is that Iran might intervene, in support of the Shiites.