I said in SusanHu's recent diary that one of our biggest problems is a lack of positive solutions to the problem of Iraq (
Link). The biggest problem we, as Democrats, face is that we don't have a solution to Iraq. As Bill Clinton said, "When people are insecure, they'd rather have someone strong and wrong, rather than weak and right." We are right, but we look weak, you might even argue that we are weak, because we have no positive plan for Iraq.
Imagine you are trapped in your house with your family, and the house is surrounded by gunmen intent on killing all of you. There is no way out. So the idea is floated for you to make a charge at the gunmen with a kitchen knife, while your family hope this distracts the gunmen and they can sneak out the back.
It is a stupid plan. It is a suicidal plan. It will, in all likelihood get both you and your family killed. But in the absence of any other option, you'll go with it.
We have the same problem with Iraq.
The Bush plan is a stupid plan, and it will not work. But in the absence of any other suggestion, it is the only plan Americans have. They will take that position of strength, because it is a position at all, over our assertions that the war was wrong without a plan to back it up.
This presents us with a big problem. Iraq is so badly screwed up that very few, if any, real solutions present themselves. Carry on regardless is not an option. Drafting is political suicide, with pulling out not much better. Call on allies when Bush has failed? No one wants to send their children to join ours in the meatgrinder. We're in a hole, make no mistake. But we need to find a positive position before the next election cycle comes round. As I see it, we have two options:
Wait for Iraq to bleed us dry. It's not pretty, and it's not pleasant, but as the death toll increases and Bush's assertions that things are getting better become more and more clearly untrue, we will gain the option of just pulling out. If it is clear that we can't fix it, people will let us leave. But we're not there yet, so we can't use that argument now, or we go against the grain and make ourselves look weak.
Secondly, invite in Iran. Yes, I know it sounds nuts, and it probably is, but it does have the advantage of working in terms of an exit strategy. The Iranians do have the capacity to end this - their army is large, they are a natural ally of the largest group in Iraq, and if we can convince them to enter Iraq in a controlled manner, the bloodshed could hopefully be slowly reduced, in a pretty draconian manner unfortunately.
Neither of these are palatable right now, so we need to play a waiting game, watching the blood of Iraqis and Americans pool at Bush's feet, but try to create a cohesive way to bring these solutions to the fore once it is clear to all that we have already lost in Iraq. Before that point, no option we can present will seem like a viable solution.