"There is no viable plan possible to accomplish both so I didn't expect Kerry to have one anymore than I expect one from bush."

Good. Glad to see we agree on the point that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats has an exit strategy.

So if as a voter, my number one election issue is to end the US occupation of Iraq (which it is), and neither Bush nor Kerry has an exit strategy, why should I vote for either of them? Because you guys hate one of the guys, but are only marginally displeased with the other?

No one knows if more Iraqis and occupation forces will be killed if we continue the occupation, than if we end it as soon as possible. It doesn't take any more planning to load the troops on the same ships they went over on, and have the captain sail in the opposite direction, than it did to get them over there to begin with, obviously. Everyone could be home by Christmas.

Yes, more Iraqis would die, but it is much more likely, IMO that many, many more Iraqis will die if this occupation continues indefinitely, under the ruse of "bringing stability and order to Iraq" than if we simply bring the troops home now. Ending the occupation WOULD concentrate the minds of the Iraqis and the international community to work on the problem, without having it take up all the resources and energy and time of the international community, when it needs to focus on much more serious hotspots, like Sudan, the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel, North Korea, etc.

Sometimes, you just need to admit that we fucked up, and get the hell out, just like we eventually did in Vietnam. That IS what is called for in this instance. Anything else just makes it an imperial occupation for oil. Oh wait--I forgot! That IS why Kerry is planning on staying in Iraq! That's what we went in for!