Months ago, people started comparing Iraq to Vietnam
But now, maybe not everybody in the centrist position is comfortable with that, if it means they, not BushCo, is expected to find a workable solution to, i.e. escape from, Iraq.
So is Kerry at risk of playing 1968 Nixon to Bush's Johnson/Humphrey?
Is he at risk about being put more on the spot than now about his plans for Iraq?
Let's look at Kerry's proposals so far, disregarding the question of whether or not Bush has "co-opted" him.
More NATO troops in Iraq? Nuh-uh, not gonna happen in a Kerry presidency.
- Gerhard Schroeder, if he sets the boot of one German soldier in Iraq, even for training purposes of Iraqi security only, loses the Greens from his coalition. The Christian Democrats kick his butt in snap elections.
- France, in proportion to the size of its population has about as many peacekeepers either current or recent past, in various spots, as we do.
Chirac doesn't have the same type of political damage to fear, but if
there's nothing in it for France, he's not getting involved.
- Britain can't send significant additional troops.
- Italy (Berlusconi) is prudent enough not to.
- Poland is the only "new NATO" member with a popuation of the size to offer any significant additional troops. Doubtful they will.
Even if NATO countries do supply significant troops for training Iraqi
security, that really doesn't take that much, so it wou't free that many
American troops up.
Arab countries supply troops? No way in hell.
So, it's either more total U.S. boots on the ground (Bushism on steroids), the same troop numbers, only maybe with more active duty (Bushism allegedly done smarter, but where the F does the money come from for expanding the active-duty Army) or get us the hell out.
Kerry knows it's suicide to do option 1
So far, Sen. Kerry is clearly sticking with option 2.
No, of course not. It has the risk of his own version of Bush hubris, saying in essence, "We internationalist DLC of foreign policy Democrats really
do know how to do this better.
In short, what this is, is updated 1968 Nixonism.
"I have a
smarter plan to end the war," Kerry is saying.
I'm not cosigning that plan at all.
An option 3 Kerry is the only one for me.