Carl Levin has come out today in a Washington Post commentary piece with what has to be the dumbest idea on the planet to win the peace in Iraq.

As the Iraqi people prepare to vote on a new constitution Saturday, the political situation in that country is highly unstable. There are troubling signs of a split in the political alliance of Kurds and Shiites that has thus far kept Iraq from complete chaos. Sunni Arab leaders, meanwhile, openly call for the constitution to be defeated. And Iraqis from all ethnic groups have lost faith in the transitional government’s ability to protect them or provide basic services.

Levin is exaggerating a bit here. If the Sunni’s vote to defeat the constitution, that is democracy in action and the Kurds and Shia will need to figure out a way to accommodate them. Why is he complaining about this?

But into all this supposed instability, what does Carl the Military genius propose?

I believe that if the Iraqis fail to reach a political solution by the end of the year we must consider a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces. This does not mean setting a date now for departure. It simply means conveying clearly and forcefully to Iraqis that the presence of our forces is not indefinite and that our staying there requires them to come together politically, since Iraqi unity offers the only hope of defeating the insurgency.

Carl, it also sends a signal to the insurgents that if they employ a massive violent effort to shear apart the forces of democracy we will leave since we have would be faced with going back on our threat.

What kind of mind can think up this drivel? Levin even posits that the stabilizing anchor in Iraq is the US!

There is, however, one point on which leaders of the three main groups in Iraq agree: None of the Iraqi groups wants U.S. troops to leave precipitately.

This is what you get from a life time Senator used to waiving his hand and getting what he wants immediately. The worst decisions in history were based in haste and impatience. The imperial senator wants to explain to these peasants that they need to get their act together…

Like they don’t know? They are the ones dying for the cause of their freedom and democracy. They are the ones being killed, since Al Qaeda has decided to keep killing Muslims until the US surrenders (where do these people come up with these lunacies?).

The administration has been sending the opposite messages with repeated statements that we will stay in Iraq as long as we are needed. We should not mislead the Iraqis into thinking they have unlimited time to reach a settlement.

And when your patience runs out, Senator, we hand the country over to Al Qaeda…

Gee, why didn’t I think of that!

UPDATE:

Of course, if I read my email on time I would have seen that Dr. Sanity had already posted the liberal plan for Iraq and the region at her site. Now I understand what Levin is up to.