Everyday, we hear a new criticism of the Iraq War. At the same time, we don't hear any solutions.
We are in an election season so partisanship is normal. Both sides play politics. Yet, the Iraq War is a little too complicated for simple partisan criticisms.
The Democrats' Iraq Problem By David Ignatius goes to the heart of the matter. The Democrats have lot of criticisms but not any solutions.
It's a little too late to argue about a decision made 40 months ago, specially a decision supported by most Democrats in Congress.
Like me, Ignatius understands the strategic importance of this war. Unfortunately, many Democrats are so obsessed with winning in 5 weeks that they don't care about what they are saying or its consequences.
In this article, Ignatius writes this:
"But with a few notable exceptions, the Democrats are mostly ducking the hard question of what to do next. They act as if all those America-hating terrorists will evaporate back into the sands of Anbar province if America pulls out its troops. Alas, that is not the case. That is the problem with Iraq -- it is not an easy mistake to fix."
My gut feeling is that most Democrats privately understand the disastrous consequences of cutting and running. If they win a majority, I don't think that they will cut and run because they can't.
So what's going on? The Democrats are caught between reason and an unreasonable left wing that wants Pres. Bush to fail at any cost. This left wing forces Democrats to say many things that they will regret if they win a majority. In fact, a Democrat majority will end up disappointing most liberals because they will have to govern rather than scream from the bleachers.
As Ignatius said:
"Here's a reality check for the Democrats: There is not a single country in the Middle East, with the possible exception of Iran, which favors a rapid American pullout from Iraq. Why? The consensus in the region is that a retreat now would have disastrous consequences for America and its allies.
Yet withdrawal is the Iraq strategy you hear from most congressional Democrats, whether they call it "strategic redeployment'' or something else."
He concludes:
"But what you hear from most Democrats these days is: Gotcha."
Gotcha may win a few marginal seats in 5 weeks. It won't solve the larger problem.
Another good article is A Dishonest Debate on The Iraq War By Jonathan Finer.
2 comments:
While it is true that Democrats don't really have any solutions to offer, I see nothing wrong or illogical in giving them more say in what happens considering that the current administration is equally devoid of solutions. It is "too late to argue about a decision made 40 months ago" (at least as matters to the current situation), it is not too late to punish the leaders who made such bad decisions. And even if one agreed with invading Iraq at the time, so many other decisions regarding it's planning and execution were so bad that it is quite sensible to try and take some power away from those responsible (especially if one believes that "most Democrats privately understand the disastrous consequences of cutting and running").
Are people that ignorant of the task at hand?
This war is hardly started and Democrats have successfully destroyed public support.
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