Posted on 11/18/2005 5:48:35 AM PST by madprof98
Disapproval at home, reports of torture illustrate why plans to withdraw from Iraq should take shape
Trying to peer into Iraq's future has been difficult, but the picture might have become a little clearer Tuesday thanks to two news events, one in Baghdad and one in Washington. Unfortunately, it isn't pretty.
Here at home, the Senate approved a resolution 79-19 urging the Bush administration to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by next year. It did not call for estimated dates of withdrawal, as a Democratic version had, but it made clear the Senate's wishes.
According to its sponsor, Republican Sen. John Warner, the historic resolution was intended to tell the Iraqi government that "we mean business, we have done our share, now the challenge is up to you."
The Senate resolution sent messages to two other important audiences as well.
First, it was meant to reassure American voters that their dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq had been noted in their nation's capital. In recent polls, roughly 65 percent of Americans say they disapprove of how President Bush is handling the war, and only 40 percent still believe that going to war was worthwhile. Numbers like that are unlikely to improve, and will make it impossible to sustain a long-term American deployment in Iraq.
That was the message sent to the Bush administration as well. The president continues to talk as if withdrawal were not an option, but the Senate vote — joined by a majority of Bush's fellow Republicans — is far from the only indication to the contrary. U.S. generals have talked openly of troop reductions next year, as have top Iraqi officials; the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Bush appointee Zalmay Khalilzad, said recently that "we are on the right track to start significant reductions in the coming year." Our British allies are talking about heading home as well next year.
On Thursday, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat, a former Marine and a man respected by both parties on defense issues, even called for immediate withdrawal, echoing statements earlier by retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom, who headed the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration.
"The U.S. will not leave behind a liberal, constitutional democracy in Iraq no matter how long it stays," Odom noted. "Holding elections is easy. It is impossible to make it a constitutional democracy in a hurry."
What seems to be taking shape is not a cut-and-run policy, but a policy of cut and walk briskly to the exit. And unfortunately, a revealing glimpse into what we will leave behind came Tuesday when news broke of a weekend raid by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers of an Iraqi government building in Baghdad.
The raid freed 173 malnourished Iraqi men being held in secret in a former bomb shelter. Many of the men had been subjected to torture just like that perpetrated under the deposed Saddam Hussein, but what made the event so ominous is that they were being held by captors who were at least nominally employees of Iraq's democratically elected government.
The parallels with the Iraq of Saddam, the Iraq we had supposedly destroyed, are sobering. The only difference is that this time, the torturers were Iraqi Shiites while the victims were largely Sunni, a role reversal from Saddam's time.
The dream of transforming Iraq from a cruel and repressive tyranny into a shining model of Western-style democracy was admittedly a beautiful thing. But like many a beautiful thing, it may also have been unattainable, particularly after our bungling of the post-war occupation.
Now we are left to accomplish what we can, in the time we have, with the resources we have, and then deal with the consequences, which will be significant. Our alliances and our reputation are in tatters; our military is showing signs of strain and our enemies are emboldened.
The good news is, we've recovered from a lot worse. But it didn't have to be this hard.
I thought it was supposed to have been a Cruel Hoax from the very outset. Must have missed that Talking Point.
She exhibits blithering ignorance about the situation in Iraq. And seems quite smug in her ignorance.
Disapproval by the MSM and the Democratic Party. Tucker Schmucker - did she forget we had an election in 2004? I am sooooooo sick of this dung!
"the Senate approved a resolution 79-19 urging the Bush administration to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by next year"
BFD. There were already plans to draw down troops in 2006...if circumstances allow.
Does anyone know who the Senator's were that did not vote for the timetable???
It was a cruel hoax until it started working, now it's a great idea but doomed to failure, and therefore not worth a few lives a day of our military.
That is the most amazing thing, that we are arguing because of a total of 2000 deaths. I know that every death is sacred, but then again that is why we are losing the PR battle -- because nobody can find it in their heart to say that 2000 isn't that many people to die for freedom.
We need to get the number of americans who died in the revolutionary war. Anybody?
I would also start pushing that fewer people have been killed in the war on terror than were killed in the 9/11 attack.
How about, the enemy has no problem sending hundreds of its troops to die in this war they are losing, because they understand the long-term consequences. Meanwhile, we are losing a few troops a day out of 1.2 million, and we are ready to cut and run in a couple of years because we aren't progressing fast enough?
trea·son (trzn) KEY
NOUN:
Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.
A betrayal of trust or confidence.
(.....freeper Cindys excepted, of course).
Leni
("The U.S. will not leave behind a liberal, constitutional democracy in Iraq no matter how long it stays," Odom noted. "Holding elections is easy.)
What a beautiful way of denigrating our accomplishments in Iraq. Yeah, sure it was easy to get the Iraqis where they are today. It's tomorrow's goals that are Reeeaaally tough. Keep moving the goal posts Democrats. May you get what you deserve.
Have you seen this?
More Wilson Meltdown (Lying Larry Johnson from VIPS sounding worried)
I'll wager Cynthia is simply "disabled" from paying attention to anything remotely like this...
I see the tumblers lining up. The real TRAITORS are going to be caught in their own web.
I've suspected the Bush Team, for years, of trying to avoid a public execution/trial of these taitors. Trying to unite us all. But the more the "traitors" push, the more they send themselves into a purgatory of their own manufacture.
And then there is this story from June of this year:
In New York, the United Nations Security Council, in a unanimously appproved statement, extended the mandate of the American-led forces here beyond the end of this year. Mr. Jaafari said Iraq's need for outside military assistance, not pre-set deadlines, should determine when American troop withdrawals should start. "The multinational forces are not occupying forces, they are friendly forces, and they are helping us to establish security, carrying out missions in the interests of the Iraqi people, and under the authority of the government," Dr. Jaafari said. The government, he said, wanted an extension of their mandate "until we have defeated terrorism and restored security across the country."
IOW, they asked us to stay another year. All the whining from the left is because they want Iraq to fail so they can blame Bush in their usual hypocritical manner.
Could that not be one of the dumbest sentences ever printed?!?!?!? I don't care if you cut and skip out the exit, it is still running from the fight like a coward..pathetic..
Cynthia Tucker is a perfect example of NVA. No Value Added.
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