By Mark Dayton, U.S. congressman

Recently, I hosted a picnic for the families of Minnesota troops now deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.

The spouses, children, and parents of those courageous soldiers had one common question: When will their loved ones come home?

My response was, &uot;As soon and safe as possible, with victory in Iraq secured.&uot;

However, over a year has now passed since our armed forces won their decisive military victory in Iraq. Preserving that victory has been expensive and elusive.

The growing opposition of Iraqis to the continuing U.S. military presence in their country

will likely intensify in reaction to the prisoner abuses.

It heightens the need to design a successful withdrawal plan. Presently, the Bush Administration intends to keep an expanded U.S. force of 134,00 troops in Iraq into 2006, buttressed by more tanks, armor, and firepower.

That escalation seems likely to provoke more Iraqi opposition, more violence, more casualties, and, inevitably, more destruction.

On the other hand, a premature U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, followed by civil war, anarchy, or another dictator, would be a disaster for them and a defeat for us.

What is a better option?

Last week, I asked that question of four generals in the armed forces of Egypt, who asked to meet with me on behalf of their government.

As you know, Egypt is an Arab nation, which has been our important ally and friend during the last quarter century.

The Egyptian generals said it was very important that the United States succeed in Iraq. I repeated to them what I had just said publicly in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing:

Our country has already succeeded in its stated objectives.

Our armed forces routed Saddam Hussein’s army and ended his regime.

We determined that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction ready to use against us or anyone else.

Since then, our troops have protected the country, worked to restore public services, and trained 200,000 Iraqis as police and national security forces.

On June 30th, some degree of authority will be transferred to an Iraqi government, along with the timetable for a national constitution and democratic elections.

The Egyptian generals replied that the United States also needs to announce a deadline for the transfer of military responsibilities to the Iraqis and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. That transfer, they counseled, should occur in stages: first, urban patrols and law enforcement; then, highways and other infrastructure protection; and, finally, national border security, with support from a United Nations peacekeeping force.

I am not prepared to say whether that is the right plan. However, the Bush Administration and Congress should be discussing publicly whether that is the right strategy: to transfer responsibility for Iraq to the Iraqis during the next several months, rather than continue U.S. administrative and military control into 2006.

There is an important principle in human relationships, which also applies to nations.

&uot;We judge ourselves by our intentions; others judge us by our actions.&uot;

When we know that our intentions are honorable and good, we are perplexed that those intentions are not recognized and appreciated by the other parties. However, actions, their effects, and their unintended consequences sometimes run contrary to the intentions which prompted them.

War causes deaths and destruction.

The enormous deadly forces of modern weapons cannot be perfectly directed; their effects are devastating on both intended targets and unintended victims.

More war causes more deaths and destruction.

How would that improve the present situation in Iraq?

Over 2,500 years ago, an enlightened leader wrote, &uot;Hatred can never put an end to hatred.

This is an unalterable law.&uot;

The human race has still not learned to obey that law, and its punishments can be severe.

I worry that we have not yet suffered our consequences from the war in Iraq. Our decisions now will make them either better or worse.

I will vote for better.

(Mark Dayton is a U.S. congressman.)