I applaud all of the congressional candidates and military officers who have put together the "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq." However, I want more. We need more. I'm tired of Democrats talking about how bad the Bush Administration is, how bad Iraq is and why we need to get out of Iraq. We all, even Republicans, know why we need to get out of Iraq. We know the invasion was a disaster. We know Bush is a disaster.
But this proposal is nothing new. I thought the proposal had too many quotes, too many wishes, too much rhetoric and not enough new and creative thought. We're tired of hearing about why we need to get out of Iraq - we need to know exactly how we are going to get out of Iraq. Not why and not when, but how.
To all those who wrote the "Responsible Plan to End War in Iraq,"
There is an essential piece missing in your document.
I applaud you for wanting to get our troops out of Iraq. I think it is absolutely necessary. However, there is something that you and many others do not address that is extremely important to this debate. You say that military operations should be replaced with more civil, economic and state department measures. I agree, but HOW will we protect these civil and state department workers if we are withdrawing our troops at the same time? What civil and economic assistance will we provide and who exactly will replace our troops?
You assume that by providing economic and civil benefits, Iraqis will get new jobs, get off the streets and violence will decrease. This is true, but providing jobs and new industry is a very long-term process. You said yourself that the unemployment rate is almost 60%. It will take many years to improve that number. We can't provide jobs and develop infrastructure at the same rate we pull out troops. That would take too long. At the same time, we know that current troop levels are necessary to temporarily control the violence in Iraq, or at least bring it down to a somewhat tolerable level. We also know that these levels are unsustainable. What we need is a plan that tells us HOW we are going to protect civilians/aid-workers/civil workers while we withdrawal. Your plan doesn't do that, but it could.
You mentioned that negotiations must be made with neighboring countries so that they can play a role in controlling the violence in Iraqi streets. But! HOW will they play a role?
How will you keep them from taking advantage of this vulnerable situation?
We need leaders who are creative and daring enough to come up with ideas that can actually be debated. There is very little in your proposal that is original and new.
So you want to pull the troops out. We all do. So you disagree with the Bush administration. We all do. Here are the key questions that must be answered soon:
1)Which neighbors (exactly) will become involved in the stabilization process?
2)How will they become involved? What will we offer them?
3)How exactly will we control the participation process? Will the UN monitor foreign involvement? Will the US set up an Iraqi administration that works with these foreign parties?
4)How (technically) will we replace American troops with foreign ones? If that’s even your plan? Will there be a training process?
5)The Iraqi economy is an oil economy. It has been for years. How will we create new jobs? New markets?
6)How will we encourage other countries to trade with Iraq?
7)If other countries are brought into the process, how will we make sure that they are not taking advantage of Iraq?
I'm tired of 50 page documents that don't say anything new! That don't present any creative ideas about how to provide jobs! or how to bring in other countries! or even which countries to bring in! We need more than this.