Though Karl Rove may think he's branding Democrats as the "cut-and-run" party, last Thursday's House debate on Iraq was clearly a loser for the failed "stay-the-course" policy of the Republicans. The American people are resoundingly negative on Iraq. While Democrats have different ideas on how best to end the war, we are unified in our opposition to this Administration's incompetent and reckless Iraq policy.
We need a new strategy for Iraq -- a dramatic change of course.
More below the flip.
Senior officials must be held accountable for massive policy and management failures -- starting with firing Donald Rumsfeld, the chief architect of the post-war policy failures. Rumsfeld ignored the advice of senior military advisors, ignored the careful recommendations of those who understood nation-building, and ignored those horrified by a prison situation careening out of control. And he prides himself even now on refusing to change a failed policy.
Since I returned from my third trip to Iraq last September, I have been calling on the Administration to develop an exit strategy, and I believe it is now time to begin the phased, strategic redeployment of U.S. and coalition forces out of Iraq on a schedule designed by military commanders.
The U.S. is part of the solution in Iraq, but our large military presence is also part of the problem. Beginning to reduce the "footprint," while maintaining an over-the-horizon strike force, will improve our chances for success.
In my view, we have 3 to 6 months to advance 3 main objectives:
- Helping the new Iraqi government provide electrical power, particularly in Baghdad, and deliver other critical economic and social services to the Iraqi people.
- Supporting the Iraqi government in its effort to disarm Shiite militias and integrate them into a trained Iraqi national security force.
- Continuing the process, begun by U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad, of obtaining buy-in from Sunni political leaders.
Achieving these objectives will enable us to leave Iraq in better shape than we found it. But we don't have much time to get it right.
Our action in Iraq led to a failed state and, tragically, our post-war mission as presently defined cannot succeed. There are too few troops to stabilize the country. They are inadequately equipped. They are fighting an insurgency we didn't predict, at constant risk from IEDs we can't find, with no clearly developed goals to help the Iraqi leadership achieve political and economic security, and no exit strategy.
Two major failures led us to war, and we had best learn some lessons or risk making the same mistakes again. Had we got the intelligence right, I believe we could have made different choices -- and the pain and loss and anger many feel could have been avoided.
First was a massive intelligence failure in assessing Saddam's WMD capability, which has been widely acknowledged. The second was the politicization of intelligence by the President and a White House determined to push us toward war.
The Bush administration cherry-picked intelligence and hyped the threat. They talked in ominous tones about "mushroom clouds," even though many questioned evidence suggesting Saddam had nuclear weapons capability. They made a mantra of the claim that 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta met with Iraqi agents in Prague, a claim that has been thoroughly discredited. Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz famously predicted we would be greeted as liberators -- that Iraqis would throw rose petals -- ignoring Intelligence Community assessments about the potential for armed resistance.
Despite all of this, there is still a chance to salvage the situation in Iraq -- but the next three months are critical. We have a moral obligation to assist Iraq on its path to democracy, but if clearly-defined minimum objectives cannot be achieved within that time frame, the prospects for success in Iraq could all but disappear.
That's why a change of course is urgently needed. We need to hold senior Administration officials accountable for their failed policy, starting with Secretary Rumsfeld. And we need to begin redeploying troops immediately.
The President's Baghdad photo-op last week is not a substitute for needed policy changes. It's time for Congress to lead.
-- Jane
P.S. I'll be stopping by from time-to-time over the next few hours to respond to some of your comments. I look forward to your feedback!