With Iraq descending ever further into chaos and civil war, the first order of business of the new Democratic Congress when it convenes in January must be to pass a resolution establishing a clear and expeditious timeline for the withdrawal of US forces....

The monstrous events of November put an end to the illusion that US forces can somehow stabilize Iraq before they leave. The bloody civil war, brutal revenge killings and escalating sectarian violence claimed more than 200 Iraqi lives over the Thanksgiving weekend alone, promising to make November an even deadlier month than October, which according to a United Nations report saw 3,709 Iraqi civilians killed. The 140,000 American troops in Iraq were unable to prevent this violence, just as they have been unable to stop the ethnic cleansing that has taken place over the past year. According to the UN, 365,000 Iraqis have fled their homes and communities since the bombing of the mosque in Samarra in February, and more than 50,000 are fleeing their homes every month.

These statistics do not fully capture the gruesome horror that much of Iraq has become. Nor do they capture how helpless US forces are to establish security. As journalist Nir Rosen reported earlier this year, "The Americans are just one more militia lost in the anarchy." Indeed, the Iraqi government has no authority outside the Green Zone, nor any control over the proliferating Shiite and Sunni militias....

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