This month, the former director of the National Security Agency under the Reagan administration, Gen. William Odom, wrote an essay calling for a strategic change in Iraq.

Specifically, Democrats should frame the notion of “supporting the troops” as withdrawing them.

Gen. Odom goes on to say that Congress should withhold funding for the war if the president does not comply. What’s more, he advocates impeachment if Bush tries to “extort” Congress into funding the war.

Isn’t Gen. Odom emboldening the terrorists by setting timetables for withdrawal?

Nonsense, experts say. This is confirmed by ex-CIA analysts like Michael Scheuer, who warns that our continued presence in Iraq greatly exacerbates the threat of terrorism. According to Mr. Scheuer, the invasion of Iraq “broke the back of our counterterrorism efforts” and validated every claim that bin Laden spread to his followers.

Fellow CIA analyst Bruce Riedel writes in Foreign Affairs that al-Qaeda has welcomed and celebrated the U.S. invasion as an opportunity to kill Americans and pursue its “bleed-to-bankruptcy” strategy.

With more than 3,600 dead U.S. soldiers and spending at the rate of $14 million an hour, we are certainly assisting al-Qaeda in both goals.

The time for deliberating whether withdrawal is warranted has passed.

As The New York Times recently opined, “Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong.” Congress must act decisively to put an end to the occupation.

ADITYA GANAPATHIRAJU