SAYING "NO" TO "W's" WAR
Editor's Note: Any reader of this blog knows that RAD has agonized over which Democratic candidate to support in the '08 presidential race. Initially I endorsed John Edwards, then Barack Obama. For a variety of reasons I become disillusioned with both of them. But among the Democratic contenders I've reserved my harshest criticism to Hillary Clinton for reasons I need not belabor.
I think Senators Chris Dodd (Conn), Joe Biden (Del) and Governor Bill Richardson (NM) are quality people, but none of them have a chance for the nomination but they can play a pivotal role after the election in the US Senate or in the case of Governor Richardson, as our next Secretary of State. Congressman Dennis Kucinich as a moral gadfly is a gem of clarity, principle and passion. But he will never get the nomination. So at the end of the day who should one support?
Well last Friday I joined a friend from my local church and went to hear Barack Obama speak at Portland's Convention Center. As we hopped on MAX I was amazed how crowded it was! In a sea on young faces, I thought WOW Barack has really got it going. Then we learned that most of the "kids" were headed to a Justin Timberlake gig at the Rose Garden! But not all of them! We joined 4000 metro area folks, mostly 20 somethings, to hear Barack.
Frankly Barack Obama is not a charismatic speaker. I was underwelmed by his speech until the very last salvo. It was the same stump speech I've seen again and again on the tube. But there was nothing of the passion one gets from Jesse Jackson or Bill Clinton. But as I've thought about it since then maybe that's the key! Barack is a cross-over candidate, he's neither the "Black" candidate nor the "front runner" - he's simply Barack! That's enough.
At the end of his stump speech he told a story about a state senator from South Caroline whose endorsement he wanted. But to get it he had to travel to Greenwood, SC - a long 2 hour drive from anywhere. But he did it. And when he entered the rather non-descript rural building where the meeting was to be - all he saw was 20 people! But then something really funny happened.
Somebody shouted behind a screen "Are you ready?" and the folks responded "Let's go." Then out of the dark emerged the petit lady senator. And like a cheer leader she got them going by shouting "Are you ready?" And their response, "Let's go." Well folks that sounds like a good motto for us all. After two terms of Dubya the central question is "Are you ready" and if so, then "Let's go."
And then tonight President Bush topped off a week of political spin over the war in Iraq by his two latest front men Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraes by appealing to Americans to once again stay the course. My response was simple - "Liar, Liar, pants on fire." So I'm ready to say NO to Bush and his cronies. But now I have a candidate who I can say YES to.
So Barack, RAD "is ready", so "Let's go."
When one gets to the core of the dilemma we face over Iraq it's very clear that the new president-elect will inherit all the issues involved with the war and occupation of Iraq. Two huge issues emerge from that conundrum: 1) will a new administration be able to focus on a wider view of our role in the world or 2) will we continue to be bogged down with the Iraq quagmire?
And if Iraq continues to be our focus, then what pray tell is the mission? It's clear that the administration and Congress have given up on trying to turn Iraq into a model democracy. Regime change has failed. The best we can hope for is to stop the devolution of Iraq and the region into chaos. After six years, 3700 lives and billions that's pretty slim pickings! As the Peggy Lee song goes "Is that all there is?"
So should the mission be to - stay the course; have a total pullout; allow a de facto "soft" partition; or fall back to containing the chaos within Iraq. It appears both the Congress and President Bush are quietly moving to some version of the two latter options fearing more ethnic cleansing or worse, genocide; the spill over effect of the civil war; and preventing Iraq from becoming a safe haven for Al Qaeda.
If the option is containment then as Ambassador Crocker and General Patraeus implied in their testimony we will be in Iraq for a long, long time well past 2009. Has Iraq become in effect the staging ground for a new "Cold War" between the US and worldwide terrorism? If so what happens to other foreign policy challenges - the emergence of a stronger Russia, trade policy with China, global warming and relations with our allies in Europe?
An answer to this "no good choices" option came over my e-mail this week from Barack Obama! Finally somebody is saying what needs to be said and is willing to put it on the line and arguing that conventional thinking will not get us out of the Iraq quagmire. Check Barack's letter out and then go to his website for more info http://my.barackobama.com/iraqplan
Barack Obama on the war in Iraq:
I have spoken out against the war in Iraq since before it began. Today, I outlined a plan to turn the page in Iraq and end the war.
The saddest thing about the Bush administration's surge of public relations in favor of the war in Iraq this week is how predictable it has become for them to make their case for war around the anniversary of 9/11.
Five years ago today -- September 12, 2002 -- President Bush made his case for war at the United Nations.
He was wrong. The people who attacked us on 9/11 were in Afghanistan, not Iraq, and his case was built on exaggerated fears and empty evidence.
But conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war. Too many politicians feared looking weak and failed to ask hard questions. Too many took the President at his word instead of reading the intelligence for themselves. Congress gave the President the authority to go to war, and our only opportunity to stop the war was lost.
I made a different judgment. I opposed this war from the beginning. I opposed the war in 2002. I opposed it in 2003. I opposed it in 2004. I opposed it in 2005. I opposed it in 2006. And I introduced a plan this January to remove all of our combat brigades by March 2008.
The time to end this war is now.
My plan for turning the page in Iraq is clear:
- remove our combat troops from Iraq's civil war by the end of 2008
- take a new approach to press for reconciliation within Iraq
- escalate our diplomacy with all of Iraq's neighbors and the United Nations
- confront the human costs of this war directly with increased humanitarian aid
Our troops have performed brilliantly, but let me be clear: there is no military solution in Iraq, and there never was.
The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to begin to remove our combat troops immediately.
Not in six months or a year -- now.
We must get out strategically and carefully, but our drawdown should proceed at a steady pace of one or two brigades each month. If we start now, all of our combat brigades should be out of Iraq by the end of next year.
While we change the dynamic within Iraq, we must surge our diplomacy in the region.
We need to launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent history to reach a new compact in the region. This compact must secure Iraq's borders, keep neighbors from meddling, isolate al Qaeda, and support Iraq's unity.
Conventional thinking in Washington says Presidents cannot lead this diplomacy. But I think the American people know better. Not talking doesn't make us look tough -- it makes us look arrogant. And it doesn't get results.
Strong Presidents tell their adversaries where they stand, and that's what I would do. Now is the time for tough and sustained diplomacy backed by real pressure. It's time to rally the region and the world to our side.
The final part of my plan is a major international initiative to address Iraq's humanitarian crisis.
There's no military solution that can reunite a family or resettle an orphaned child. It's time to form an international working group with the countries in the region, our European and Asian friends, and the United Nations.
We should increase our support for displaced Iraqis and expand access to social services for refugees in neighboring countries.
It's also time to go to our friends and allies -- and all the members of our original coalition in Iraq -- to find homes for the many Iraqis who are in desperate need of asylum.
As Americans, we must keep faith with Iraqis who kept faith with us and take responsibility for our own actions:
I welcome all of the folks who have changed their position on the war over these last months and years. We need more of those votes to change if we're going to change the direction of this war. But if we've learned one thing from Iraq, it's that the judgment that matters most is the judgment that's made first.
I opposed this war from the beginning, and I want to bring this country together to end this war now. The American people have the right instincts on Iraq. It's time to heed their judgment.
We have the power to do this -- not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. We don't have to wait until George Bush is gone from office -- we can begin to end this war today, right now.
It's time reclaim our foreign policy. It's time to reclaim our politics. It's time to lead this country -- and this world -- to a new dawn of peace and unity.
RAD: So "Are you ready," if so "Let's go." Barack Obama for President!
Reader Comments (2)
Congratulations on making your decision for the 2008 presidential election! Any suggestions for us Republicans? I'm at a loss! I like Fred Thompson but I think maybe that's because The Hunt for Red October is one of my very favorite movies. Not much of a basis for making such an important decision.
I'm glad I found your blog!
Great to hear from you! I've been out of town for 3 days so was I surprised to see you "comments."
What are you up to these days and where? Tell me what you've been doing all these years...
Now I thought daughters of UCC ministers HAD to be Dems! My advice, don't waste your vote - change parties! If I were an R I'd be likely to vote for Rudy G.
The rest are way too conservative, support the war, anti-choice and cater to the radical right.
My home e-mail is dondero1@easystreet.net