E&P Analysis: Amid Pullout Talk, Editorials Continue to Oppose Idea

By: E&P Staff Recent calls for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq -- at a slow or speedy pace -- got a major boost today with news that all three of Iraq's leading political factions had collectively called for a timetable for withdrawal of all foreign forces. That comes on the heels of Rep. John Murtha's much-publicized call for a pullout, and new polls showing that six in 10 Americans -- and even eight in 10 Iraqis -- would like the U.S. to exit. Even Bill O'Reilly came out for it today, and many Republicans in Congress, with Election Day 2006 approaching, have expressed the hope that some pullouts will begin next year.

What's missing from this picture? An E&P survey of current editorials in major newspapers reveals that very few of them -- even after the new debate sparked by Murtha's plan -- favor a pullout or even setting a timetable for withdrawal.

A close look at excerpts from these editorials, which E&P has been updating since Friday, reveals strong support for Murtha's anger and much criticism of how the White House launched this war and has handled it since. One might say that the majority of editorials express a "dovish" position. Yet almost none of these newspapers -- including The New York Times -- has come right out and said that the U.S. should soon begin to pull out of Iraq or even set a timetable for doing so.

From one perspective, this could be viewed as charting a wise and careful course. From another, it amounts to playing shuffleboard on the Titanic when others are trying to grab the ship's wheel.

While a few papers take what could still be called a "hawkish" position -- The Washington Post, Boston Herald, and Wall Street Journal, to name three -- most of the other papers are profoundly critical of the U.S. war strategy, but not to the point of advocating a pullout.

So you have USA Today calling Murtha's plea "understandable" but "misguided," even while re-affirming that the entire war was "a mistake." It calls withdrawal "a wrong and dangerous course" while also hitting Bush's "fuzzy call" to stay the course.

The Plain Dealer in Cleveland repeated its demand for the resignation of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld -- while opining that a "precipitous withdrawal risks the tragic waste of the blood investment we have in Iraq."

The Austin American Statesman in Texas said most Americans have "lost confidence" in the president's war leadership but withdrawal would likely "not be in this nation's best interests at this point."

The dovish Minneapolis Star-Tribune called Murtha "right and refreshing to hear" -- but separated from him on "his call for immediate withdrawal." It did say the troops should come out as soon as possible, though it's unclear what that means.

The New York Daily News declared: "Murtha is right, of course, that the American public is sick of the slog, is 'thirsting for a new direction' and 'wants and deserves real answers.' " But it added that he "is still wrong" about withdrawal.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said Murtha is "surely on the right track," but "leaving Iraq now would be a mistake." A timetable might be wise, if it is "flexible," the paper said.

Knight Ridder papers denounced the "mishandling of prewar intelligence" and "incompetence" in the war effort -- but stopped short of advocating a pullout.

One of the biggest surprises came from the generally conservative Houston Chronicle in President Bush's home state. It seemed to back some kind of timetable, declaring that if Iraqis "cannot take over the responsibility for their defense within a specific period, ongoing American involvement will only delay the inevitable." It added that American lives and billions of dollars "could be better spent on American needs."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, near Murtha's home, declared that his withdrawal call "plays better as a heartfelt expression of frustration than as a sound practical advice." But it did suggest that "the U.S. presence needs to end" shortly after the upcoming Iraqi elections, adding this is "the only sane choice."