Let’s Build on Success

10/16/2007

Paul Munnis


Somewhere, sometime, someplace, a Democrat must congratulate our troops on their success in Iraq. Indeed all evidence is that the surge is working and I am pleased that it is working. Congratulations to our troops on the pacification of the South of Iraq, we welcome the calm in Kurdistan, and we recognize the progress being made in Baghdad.

We know that the Iraqi Central Government is an abject failure and I encourage our government to get them onto the right path or else to dissolve them. Our military is rightly looking for diplomatic progress to match the military moves and are complaining that they are absent. The Bush Administration is moribund and a failure at diplomacy both at home and abroad.

As a Democrat my goal is still the same – "bring home our troops." I would much rather that they come home victorious than not. Victory is defined as a stable and secure Iraq.

Also I would prefer them to come home sooner if not immediately. The continuous drain on Americans lives and the high economic cost of the war demands a termination of American participation as soon as we can cease our direct involvement.

It is encouraging to see Iraqi’s coming to an independent conclusion that the Iraq central government is a failure. It is comforting to see them advocating for the same three State solution that Joe Biden and the U.S. Senate has called for. It is encouraging to see Federalism appearing in the Iraqi lexicon of government. Yet this stupid civil war must end, this battle for control of the oil assets of Iraq must end, and a war-weary people must be helped to reconstruct their lives. Iraqi’s are the first to admit that this is true.

To the degree that an American presence in Iraq is an impediment to peace then we must remove ourselves from Iraqi soil. Once that is done it strips foreign insurgents of their right to be in Iraq.

Iraq needs to build a three State solution, each needs to police its own region and it is not clear that it needs a strong central Army or a strong central government at this time. Yes, these would be convenient but whether or not they are necessary can be debated.

A UN resolution to extend military protection to Iraq while they are in the process of nation-building could substitute for a strong central Iraqi Army and succeed for up to five years in my opinion.

A strong central government could be deferred until such time as the States decide to empower a central government. Remember our own American history – our States existed before a central government was formed. Thus the present Iraq government could be dissolved and it is doubtful that many would miss them. From the perspective of the Bush Administration they have goofed by trying to put the cart before the horse. It is the States that come first and the central government that then follows. Bush and his boys have it exactly backwards.

Forming the three Iraqi States is of great importance. Having those States declare no overt hostile intentions towards each other is also essential. Building a State government, a State police force, a State Constitution, and a set of State laws is necessary and can go on in parallel with each State working on its own agenda.

In order for that to happen the thrust must come from the States and not from a foreign power occupying the territory or from a sham central government that cannot agree upon the time of day. As regional pacification happens America must exit and allow the regional government to take-over.

I would prefer that our exit consist of returning those troops home but I can understand that they may need to be redeployed and leveraged to obtain further pacification. I can live with that if progress is steady and an end is in sight. Talk of a fifty year war only demands that Democrats push for immediate withdrawal since the notion of a fifty-year war is absurd.

The sooner we can get Iraqi’s managing themselves and get Washington out of the picture, the better. Such a shift will bring home our troops and end the war in Iraq.