Let the neo-cons bellow, just bring the troops home

The Seattle Times ^ | 9/24/03 | Bruce Ramsey

[Burkeman1]

George, here's what to do in Iraq: Declare victory and bring the troops home.

A senator from Vermont once suggested such a policy during the Vietnam War. It would have meant a defeat. In this case, it might mean chaos, at least for a while, unless you can get more international help.

You asked for help from the U.N. That was good. Get back to them and say, "We're serious. We're on a fast track to leave."

To America's soldiers, you can say: "You're fighters, not social workers. The fighting's done, excellent work, and you can start going home."

Thousands of American families will thank you.

To the American people, you can say: "We've changed our minds about the occupation of Iraq. We'll need only part of that $87 billion I asked for. The rest you can keep."

Watch your poll numbers go up.

The warrior intellectuals — the neoconservatives — will bellow. Let them. They don't have any electoral votes. The American people never bought their "neo-Wilsonian" fantasies of empire. Asserting American dominance was never your argument for war. You said Americans had to depose Saddam Hussein in order to protect themselves.

That's done.

Our occupation of Iraq is not yet six months old and already Iraqis are making sure that we tire of it. This will not tend to get better. An antiwar feeling has arisen in the United States, and Howard Dean, a nobody from a small state, has ridden it to the head of the pack. Dean says he wouldn't have gone to war in the first place. Few notice that Dean also says we ought to stay in Iraq to do nation-building.

"Well, Howard," you can say, "I'm bringing the troops home. If you're elected, you can send them back."

Would America be giving up if we did that? We would be giving up the right to reconstruct Iraq our way. We would not be giving up anything the average American cares about.

Certainly, the American people would accept a change in policy. They have accepted the official story from the start — the weapons of mass destruction, the "link" between Saddam and bin Laden, the "Woman Warrior" story about Pvt. Jessica Lynch. They are not paying much attention to Iraq. They will accept a pullout.

Consider the alternative: Five years of occupation. Maybe 10. Bombs, demonstrations, dead Americans.

Think of the Democrats. In 2002 you beat them by offering to save America from a foreign threat. If you do that in 2004, you're going to be in trouble. Americans get tired of wars that drag on and on, and tend to toss out the political party that does the dragging. Look up the election of 1952. Also 1968. Ask your dad about the political shelf-life of military victory. It is less than one year.

Think of the economy. Business has been terrible since you became president. The people have been pretty forgiving about that. They know the dot-com bust was not your doing (nor Clinton's, really). You have given the people a tax cut, and Alan Greenspan has given them rock-bottom interest rates. In normal times, these would produce a snapping recovery. But war sits on business confidence like a fat man on a dog.

Your war, a Republican war, of which the politically profitable part is over. We are now in the losing part. The occupation of Iraq could drag on well past November 2004.

But you can forestall that. Lean on the U.N. for troops. Lean on the Egyptians; they owe us a favor or two for the billions we've doled out to them. Speed up the creation of an Iraqi government. You don't need to wait for elections. That's Iraq's business.

Then you can announce that most of the troops will be home by Christmas and you will not be needing all of that $87 billion.

Watch Wall Street jump. The dollar, too.

Nobody expects you to do this. It will shock your friends, but what's more, it will confound your enemies. It will also steer the Republican Party back toward that nationalistic but "humble" foreign policy you described three years ago, which best suits the interests, and the patience, of those who might vote for you in 2004.

Bruce Ramsey's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is bramsey@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company

[Burkeman1]

I respect that position and understand it.

[MEG33]

Read some of the posts here and you could learn about the accomplishments.Do a search for poster Ragtime Cowgirl.

No soldier is going to be in Iraq for years.They will be there around a year.

The armed services can be very demanding and it isn't wise to join without the will and dedication to persevere.

[John Valentine]

Bruce Ramsey is not a conservative, he is an isolationist.

The problem for him and us is this: we have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide any more.

Aircraft have been developed that can cross oceans, to say nothing of intercontinental missiles. Sinister people cross our borders under false pretenses with lethal intent- likely every day. Bio-weapons can be carried in a handbag.

Where Ramsey was while all this developed, I can't say. But- to ignore the facts of our national situation is foolinsh, and worse, it is suicidal.

I think our citizenry knows this, even if without articulation. If George Bush cut and ran from Iraq now, I doubt if he could get his own party's renomination.

To say nothihng of winning a general election.

Better we stay the course. I predict a triunphal Bush visit to liberated, electrically-lit, air-conditioned, well-fed, and newly Democratic Iraq some time in September or early October next year.

The Democrats, socialist fifth-columnists, and new-isolationists of all stripes will be dust under his feet.

[Burkeman1]

Ragtime Cowgirl is a truly great person. I respect and honor her though I don't always agree with her.

[WillowyDame]

what is wrong with DRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????

can someone explain to me what is so wrong about DRAFT??

what i understand is that when there is DRAFT!! those who support the troops would not mind being drafted to serve themselves!!

i support the troops and would not say no to being drafted

TALK THE TALK..WALK TH WALK!!!

[BlackElk]

BM1: Yet again, conservatism is not the cowardly sniveling and groveling of Neville Chamberlain, your muse. Garrett Garrett is long dead. Conservatives are NOT isolationists. Pearl Harbor. 9/11/01. USS Cole. Auschwitz. Bergen-Belsen. Read Robert Taft AFTER WWII. The conduct of war is a necessary function of a nation state. It is our business. Welfare programs have nothing to do with it. Pony up and kwitcherbellyachin'. No one is asking you to go. No one is making you go. Your movement died at Pearl Harbor and will not be resurrected. Ramsay is a surrender monkey on the lines of the late and unlamented Sen. George Aiken of Vermont.

[Burkeman1]

Is security at logan any better now than before 9/11? We still let in unemployed Arab males into our country? Is INS any better at all? My own Irish mother was relieved of her wallet Swiss army utility finger nail filer though a couple months back though. WOW- I feel so much safer!

[WillowyDame]

i totally agree!

but bush just can't pull out!
bush is in a weird position now.

no matter what he does, bush haters and the world will not be happy. somone has to come up with a solution that will make bush look good. pulling out sucks, and staying might cost bush.

trying to build an arab nation is just impossible!
period!! those people are difficult to deal with.

[Burkeman1]

Hey Jerk- My Grandfather was drafted for WWI. He didn't like it. My Great Uncle was a priest and volunteered for WWII but came back bitter. My Moms Great Umcle Frank was at Iwo Jima and was drafted and was never right in the head again. So war hero- why not join up?

[John Valentine]

What's your point?

Try to keep on topic.

[WillowyDame]

hi burkeman,

so it is ok for you to be PRO WAR but will not actually want your loved or yourself to fight?

those people dying might not wanna be there but they are honorable men doing the right thing for freedom.

you are mad at the mere suggestion that everyone get a chance at war.

i think it's hypocritical to b pro-war/military but not pro-draft. but that is just my opinion. and yes i will go in a heartbeat if i am drafted, since i fully support the war and usa.

war is not suppose to be a happy camping experience.

many big shot war hawks would not want their kids in the frontline. but they will talk big!!! sorry if my being pro-draft offends the sensibilities of freepers. but i stand corrected unless you give me a better reason to be against it.

[Burkeman1]

I don't accept the draft nor should any conservative! A foreign danger that is real would be meet by patriots- not by some standing army. Our standing army paid for by you and me are not patriots but welfare recipients. And when we hear about them whining in Iraq I find it telling that you all are the first to condemn our troops and their families.

[WillowyDame]

burkeman,

i take it that conservatives are against DRAFT. i would like to know the reasons in details..could you or anyone else email me links to make the case against draft.

what if there are not enough "patriots"??

then what?

i just don't get how it's ok for some to go to war but those advocating it do not want to go. i'm not very bright so may be i'm missing something.

[Burkeman1]

Try reading the founding documents for one. Like the Federalist papers. Even Hamilton would never have considered that a "draft" was a federal power. How about reading just traditonal GOP leaders like Taft and Coolidge?

[MEG33]

How dare you call our Army welfare recipients,not patriots.I'd ping some wives,mothers and fathers to this thread but I don't think you're worth their time.Good night.

[znix]

WillowyDame,

We have a volunteer professional army. These men and women choose to join. Their job is to fight when the citizens of this country tell them to, even the ones who won't fight themselves. It comes with the job.

Burkeman1,

From the Oath of Citizenship:

"...that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law"

One more thing Burkeman1, welfare recipients don't sign their life away to provide for your defense.

[TheDon]

Boy is Bruce in for a surprise. Syria, Iran, Lebanon, ??? We have a long way to go to get to the end of this war. Nations which harbor and support terrorists are not compatible with the modern world.

[WillowyDame]

thanks, i'm googling it now!!!

[Burkeman1]

I would rather that you never post to me again as your "prayers" are cheap and phoney just as you are. I will never respond to your posts again and I demand that you dont respond to me, I won't to you.

[MEG33]

You're in charge of the forum?Jim Robinson will be surprised?I said no prayer here.Calling our troops welfare recipients not patriots is over the line.Hit abuse if you object to my posts.