I believe that a serious discussion and debate of how best to HELP rebuild a shattered Iraq is important for the US national psyche, the international view of the US, and for the Democratic Party that so many label as merely reactive.
There is a time to debate, then there is a time to move on. In the case of the War in Iraq, even though it is technically and logistically far from over, in the hearts and minds of the American people it is time to set a new course.
The numbers show that people disagree with Bush on Iraq, and that most people now assume that intelligence was falsified to get us into that war, that horse is dead now we needn't beat it anymore. We should keep acknowledging the fact of it because voters need to bear it in mind as they vote and make Congress turn from red to blue, but successful businesses don't dwell on the past, they move on to the next step.
The next step to take is to figure out how to begin to rebuild the utterly destroyed reputation of our country in the eyes of the world. I think the strongest initiative we might take would be a Democratic Party plan to HELP Iraq rebuild and reform itself.
Of course the method in the madness here is that this Democratic Party step forward clearly defines The Iraq War as the tragic (unspeakably tragic) deed and misadventure of The Republican Party. Yes, many Dems voted for and allowed the Republicans to wage this sham war, but many people were tricked into this by Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld and the rest.
The Democratic Party MUST BE the party of action. The Republicans have claimed that title for far too long, and even though their actions have been violent, virulent, ugly, and unConstitutional they have still been actions. And for whatever psychological reason, people like forward movement even it is destructive.
People want forward movement on the Iraq War issue, and the Dems can take the driver's seat by setting a withdrawal schedule AND setting a plan to realistically rebuild Iraq (and America's standing in the world at the same time.)