Democrats: Plan a way out of Iraq
It’s not surprising.
Not the action, not the response. G.W. Bush has ignored all the smarter people around him and has done the bidding of the war profiteers and our friends in Saudi Arabia. 21,000 American soldiers will be sent to reinforce failure in Iraq. The obvious thing for the congress to do is to use the power of the budget and deny Bush funds for continuing the war or increasing troop levels. The Democratic response is to deny that they will “cut off funding for the troops,” thus throwing away their only tool for influencing the situation and framing the issue just the way Mr. Bush likes it. (Cue sound of hands slapping onto foreheads all across America.) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been busy painting herself into a corner, with Joe Biden right beside her. However, they will subject his plans to “harsh scrutiny,” according to Pelosi. That translates as watching closely as people die and money drains away.
Sigh.
Ok, Nance, Joe, listen up for a minute. It’s time to be active, not reactive. It’s called “planning.” (Yes, this will be snarky. Snarky is what they deserve.) Here’s a way out of the painted corner.
What do we want? Troops home, ASAP. Maybe we can leave a few in Kurdish territory and Kuwait to keep an eye on things, but we want them out of Six Flags over Babylon. Who would have an actual plan for doing this? (play Jeopardy theme music) That’s right, the Pentagon. They probably have twelve withdrawal plans, each covering a different scenario. I am sure they even have budgets attached to them. Get your hands on them. I know you have security clearances. Ask the generals which plan they prefer. Take the plan, the schedule, and the budget, and make it into a spending bill.
Week One: $11.2 million (or however much) authorized to move the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division (or some other deserving Brigade) from Camp Anaconda near Baghdad to Camp Ohthankgodfinally near Kuwait City.
Week Two: $4.3 million authorized to shred and burn mountains of classified documents in the Green Zone. $2 million supplementary funding to Halliburton for 8 cases of marshmallows to roast at bonfire.
Week Three: $17.9 million to move the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division back to Wiesbaden Germany.
And so on. Millions for withdrawal, not one penny for sticking around and getting blown up. All the money will be released on a fixed schedule, all restricted to the purpose. The troops will not be “abandoned,” just moved out.
When GW asks for supplementary money for the occupation, hand him Plan #12 for withdrawal.
Reality-based Republicans can back the bill without angering the folks back home. The Democrats, with a real plan in their hands, could conceivably round up enough votes from Republicans to override a veto. The Iraqis would have a deadline for negotiating some kind of inter-sectarian compromise.
I grant you, there is much imperfection in this idea. However, the chance of getting anything even close to good out of the chaos of Iraq is microscopic. It’s a way to get past the Denier-in-Chief. It’s a way out. The Sunnis, the Shiites, the ordinary soldiers, and the American public can at least agree on that.
Postscript: If you think this idea has merit, please consider forwarding it to your favorite representative or senator.