After literally years of waiting for the Democrats to come up with a plan for Iraq that's better than "we'll do the same things as the Republicans, but more competantly," it looks like a unified Democratic plan is on the way.
In a recent interview with Raw Story, Senator Russ Feingold revealed that this plan will be released after the Democratic caucus this week.
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) says Senate Democrats will soon introduce elements of their party's plan to resolve foreign policy with regard to Iraq. "You'll see more evidence of that coming out of the Democratic caucus this week," he told RAW STORY.
What could this plan be? Clues on the flip.
First off, it seems very interesting that Feingold is the one stepping forward to declare that some sort of plan is on the way. As you know, he was the first senator to
call for withdrawal from Iraq, and propose a specific date -- Dec. 31, 2006 -- by which all U.S. forces should have left.
Is that a sign that his view has gained ground in the Democratic caucus?
Feingold says some of his colleagues are warming to the idea of a timetable, but he didn't want to identify particular senators by name. He spoke to RAW STORY in an interview Wednesday.
"I don't want to characterize their minds," he explained. I've had a number of people who've said, `I'm very close to your position. I'm almost there.'"
Senator Feingold also used the interview to lay out yet again his rationale for calling for troop withdrawal.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asked whether Iraq was a hotbed for insurgents by Newsweek last month, said, "The argument that I find rather bizarre is that somehow we created more of them by going after it, when, in fact, I think what had happened was that they had not been challenged... And now they're being challenged."
Feingold said her statement "makes absolutely no sense."
"She is just literally making things up, saying that Iraq was a hotbed of terrorism before we went there," he averred. "The recruiting is done because we are there."
...
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani added his voice against withdrawal Wednesday, saying coalition troops were "vital" to protect the Iraqi people.
Feingold disagrees.
"The idea that you stay in a situation that isn't going the right way just for the sake of saying that you're staying the course is a potentially disastrous approach," the senator said. "The idea that things would be much worse if we let Iraqis take over I think is questionable. A lot of the recruiting is based on the idea that it is a permanent American occupation."
There's the money argument: in stark contrast to the "flypaper theory," the war in Iraq is making both Americans and Iraqis less safe, because it's fueling terrorist recruitment. Simple, succinct, and powerful argument. Now if only he can sell it to the rest of the Democratic caucus.
It will be very interesting to see what kind of plan comes out of these discussions. I, for one, can't imagine Biden, Clinton, or Lieberman accepting a plan with deadlines for troop withdrawal; the Democratic hawks are too invested in the war to "flip-flop" at this point.
Unfortunately, the Democrats can't release any sort of plan if those hawks aren't on board. Because we all know that Lieberman, for one, would like nothing better than to show up on all the Sunday morning talk shows and trash his fellow Dems for being soft on terror. Again.
On the other hand, I don't think that Feingold would be the one breaking this news to the press if he didn't have some sort of support in the caucus for his plan, or something similar.
This is a time for the Democrats to show some leadership and draw a clear contrast between their plan for Iraq and the failed approach of the Republicans. President Bush made yet another appeal to stay the course this morning. How are we going to respond?