The proposal thus far:
Discussion among the Dean Coordinator's Yahoo group has led to the suggestion that an open letter to the Bush Administration be penned laying out a new direction for Iraq policy. Money would be raisedfrom the Dean network (~$60,000) to place a full-page ad in the Sunday NY Times. Signatories to this letter should be the sort of people who would create media attention by their unexpected nature and authority in military and diplomatic affairs, and political affiliations. The goal should be to reframe the nature of the Iraq issue and to answer Bush's "stay the course" message.
Possible message candidates would include:
immediate or staged withdrawl of American troops without conditions. Some sort of authority to excercise soveriegn control and coordinate elections of a new government would be needed.
turning over operational control and soverign authority to an international body, likely the UN, along with a build-up of an internationalized stabilization force from participating nations, and complimentary draw down of American troops to a level at which the occupation could no longer be characterized as American.
Any candidate message should also include an economic/reconstruction element which requires an end to no bid and preferential contracting, a review of all changes made by the Coalition to the legal and economic regimes of Iraq, and substantial humanitarian and reconstruction committments by partner nations.
Finally, any candidate message should include strong underlying rationale for the policy change that is persuasive to those who supported the war and support the mission of establishing a new government in Iraq. We musn't rely upon opposition to war generally, nor base the critique upon the legitimacy of how we came to be embroiled in war (Bush's lies about WMD, threats to US security, al Qaeda connections, etc). The strongest rationale that can reach a broad new audience, in my own opinion, is that the mission has become impossible militarily because of the destruction of our credibility and moral authority caused by this Administration's actions and policies. Occupation, reconstruction, and political reform require immense moral authority and political credibility, in addition to sufficient military force and administrative acumen. Bush has destroyed our sources of soft-power in the international community, in the Middle East specifically, and, most critically, among the Iraqi people. We must step back and allow an authority in which the Iraqi people will place their trust to finish the job.
Tasks:
Email this message to people who are in a position to know, and to communicate initmately with possible key signatories. Many of the most important signatories may be extremely reluctant to communicate via email regarding this topic due to its insecurity and the high potential for embarrasment. We need people who can pick up the phone and call our targets or make personal appointments.
Identify key figures who will lend their names to the open letter should be contacted to open a dialogue about the message of the letter. These people will be the final arbiters of the message contents.
Prime candidates:
John Kerry, General Odom, Abassador Joe Wilson, Howard Dean, General Zinni, Richard Clarke, General Wes Clark, General Joseph Hoar, General Merrill McPeak, Admiral Stansfield Turner, Anthony Lake, and other such prominent political, military, and diplomatic leaders who have expressed concerns about the Iraq war in the past, or are ready to do so now.
An effort must be made to explore the positions of prominent people in the American security apparatus who have yet to express a position of the Iraq war. Much of the news impact we seek to have will be found in NEW critics of the Iraq war, not those who have already expressed concerns. Congressional leaders as signatories, especially Republicans, would be extraordinarily news-worthy.
Groups and organizations who have already expressed concern about the war and could be contacted to see if they wish to add their organization to the signatories. Such groups lend authority to the argument and can contribute significant resources, including funds and existing member networks, to help spread the message.
Someone with signifcant writing skills and experience should be engaged to research and write the letter. All facts should be substantiated, all generalizations should cite specifics, etc. The documentation of the letter's claims should be from unimpeachable sources. This extended documentation should be made available online.
Once up to a dozen of the names we want to feature most prominently are determined, drafts of the letter should be circulated for comments and approval. Online collective editing tools such as a wiki or whiteboarding should be used to accomplish a final draft efficiently.
Once we have buy-in from a number of well-recognized figures, a fund-raising drive for the project should be initiated, perhaps in association with DFA and other Dean related networks, and signatory organizations. An agreement regarding responsibility for the funding of the message should be determined for legal purposes.
For greatest impact, and to extend the reach of the letter, we should consider a web site encompassing enhanced documentation of the letter's argument, a petition which readers can join, a mailing list to update signatories, donations to allow placement in further newpapers and other media, and ad copy to allow people to place the letter in their local papers themselves. We should consider partnering with an existing online activist organization, such as MoveOn, to provide these resources with the shortest roll-out and least expense.
A project outline with task dependencies, time lines, and assignments should be created to coordinate the project and bring it to completion for a target publication date. A volunteer with significant project management skills should be appointed project coordinator.
That's it for now. I think that if people are interested in really tackling this project, we might want to start a separate mailing list for it so the DeanCoordinator group isn't swamped with project details. Please contact me at MBryan@aol.com if interested. dKosers please nominate good potential signatories in comments.