Stuck with War?

02/21/2007

Paul Munnis


What an interesting approach Britain has taken with respect to increases in Iraqi troop strength. As an Iraqi unit proves itself capable of taking over duties, they turn a military task over to them and then withdraw a like amount of British troops thus reflecting the success.

In this way they are withdrawing their troops while benefiting from US training efforts.

Why the US can’t do the same thing is totally beyond me. Bush now has Chaney fogging up the glass by terming troop withdrawal as “RETREAT,” when it isn’t -- it’s simply turning the mission over to the Iraqi forces as they become capable of defending themselves. I don’t hear Chaney accusing Brits of retreating in Iraq.

It would be so simple for Mr. Bush to get continued support for the Iraqi War by using a common-sense strategy like this one used by Britain but instead he has deliberately chosen a position designed to split Americans and to keep us divided.

If it were up to the American people both Bush and Chaney would be ousted and people who are determined to unite our country would replace them.

The reality of this division in government means that Congress needs a multi-tier strategy of governing us.

One level must be to get the needed legislation flowing through Congress and on to Bush’s desk to sign that keeps America going forward.

Another level can be strategizing over Bush/Chaney removal from office by any of multiple possibilities.

Another level needs to look at the flaws in our system of government and exploited by the GOP with a view towards repairing them.

Still another level needs to work on a cogent replacement foreign policy and redirection of our military to reflect the new policy.

There may be more levels needed too but at least these are needed right now to be in full-scale development.

The good news is that Congress is indeed doing much of that. The Foreign Policy Committees are working on resumption of oversight and of crafting a new foreign policy for America.

Efforts at transportation, energy, agriculture, and immigration are all moving forward towards an interlocked system supporting a new foreign policy. The method is to work bottoms up identifying the needs, then top down integrating them. The result is an interlocked policy and a set of legislative Bills that the State Department is told to support with the rest of the world diplomatically and the military is told to support as directed by the President and his Cabinet.

The military appropriations will then reflect the new foreign policy direction for America. Right now the American foreign policy is based on empire building and the seizure of oil assets and first strike military response to threat. It must change to one of energy independence, transportation reform, agriculture paradigm shift, and manpower assessment with immigration policy reflecting manpower shortfall needs. What to do about globalization and currency management also needs to be factored into any new foreign policy.

It is largely the military and military appropriations that are in gridlock and that is because Bush has total control over our military except for funding them. Congress can cut-off funding for the War but that seems to be the extent of their power.

Funding cut-off is a very blunt club, one that will set the GOP propaganda machine into total frenzy but it may be used by the House anyhow. The real problem comes when it gets to the Senate and then on to Bush’s desk to sign into law. It would be rejected and thus render the new law moot. The same is true of the tactics used by Rep. Jack Murtha with defense appropriations. He can get them through the House but then comes the Senate approval and Bush sign-off and they are halted dead in their tracks.

Even though this military tier is stuck and flawed Congress must keep the other strategy levels flowing and producing. Until a new interlocked foreign policy is available to America and adopted by a new President then it isn’t possible to fully redirect the military and military appropriations. We can’t rebuild and redeploy until we know exactly what we are doing and why.

I think that we are stuck in Iraq for awhile longer and we must keep on producing a replacement foreign policy and make it the centerpiece of the 2008 election. I don’t see any other orderly way forward at this point.

American voters are harvesting the fruit of their choice to re-elect Mr. Bush that they made way back in 2004. It has come home to haunt us as a bitter crop indeed. The next window of opportunity opens in 2008. Let’s be more mature in our choice of a President at that time. Let’s elect a cogent foreign policy instead of a nice hair-do for America and choose people who will implement our foreign policy as honest brokers.

That seems to be what is left open to us as a nation operating under the law and it leaves us stuck with war for two and a half to three more years until budgets can be tuned to policy.