Pentagon Exit Strategy Relies on Advisers

Pentagon top brass preparing an exit strategy for Iraq should the troop surge fail are following the outlines set by the Iraq Study Group, using a small team of military advisers to replace troops as they stand down. It mirrors the strategy the military used in El Salvador in the 1980s, when the U.S. sent 55 Green Berets to help the government topple rebel groups.

The new plan, said to be supported by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reflects a war-weary—and divided—Pentagon, whose ranks are increasingly split between General Petraeus (strategy: keep American troops in Baghdad as pacifying force) and General John Abizaid (strategy: train the Iraqis and get out).