More in Congress want Iraq exit strategy

which I wholeheartedly support

Published on June 11, 2005 By zinkadoodle In Politics

This is an exerpt from a Boston Globe article. I find it particularly interesting, because it finally, finally is articulating what so many people who either were against the Iraq invasion from the beginning, such as myself, and others who supported it, but now do not, or are merely quesioning the sanity of this endeavor. Also, it really seems to be the first instance that I have come across wherein the Downing Street Memo is now being carefully scrutinized by Congress. It's about time. Since it was broken into the British press, the Bushies have been distancing themselves and spinning till their heads may fall off (one can only hope), but have yet to honestly address the content of the memo, that being that Bush and Co. were wrapping policy around their war effort.

I hope that Congress gives it the serious investigation that it deserves, and hope that maybe it will be the beginning of the end of the Iraq debaucle. Enough people have died over this fiasco. Enough people have had their lives ruined over this illegal war. Time to put an end to it, and get back to the business of rebuilding our own countries' resulting neglect. But, I think that war reparations to the Iraqis will pretty much bleed an awful lot from the American economy for years to come. It's the price we have to pay for the havoc we created.

More in Congress want Iraq exit strategy
Unease grows as war backing falls

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | June 11, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Faced with plummeting public support for the war in Iraq, a growing number of members of Congress from both parties are reevaluating the reasons for the invasion and demanding the Bush administration produce a plan for withdrawing US troops.

A bipartisan group of House members is drafting a resolution that calls on the administration to present a strategy for getting the United States out of Iraq, reflecting an increasing restlessness about the war in a chamber that 2 1/2 years ago voted overwhelmingly to support the use of force in Iraq.

The House International Relations Committee on Thursday approved a similar proposal, 32 to 9, with strong bipartisan support. Sponsored by Representative Joseph Crowley, a New York Democrat who voted to authorize force in Iraq in 2002, the proposal represents the first time a congressional committee has moved to demand steps be taken so that US troops can start coming home.

More than 100 Democrats -- including 11 who voted for the war resolution -- have signed onto a letter to President Bush requesting an explanation of the so-called Downing Street memo, a British document that charges the administration planned to go to war even without hard evidence of the presence of weapons of mass destruction.

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Comments

Common Sensei

on Jun 11, 2005

I'm not a supporter of the war, but I think this "exit strategy" thing is a bit flawed...I hope you'll perhaps take the time to read an article I wrote about it:

Link

zinkadoodle

on Jun 11, 2005

Thank you, Sensei, for supplying the link. I don't disagree with anything in your article. This is one miserable disaster that the US created, and exiting from it is going to be the next big challenge. But, given that the Bush administration has failed so miserably from the beginning on this, I think that more competent individuals must take the helm to secure some kind of peace.

Speaking of beginning, the interesting thing about the article from the Boston Globe is that in addition to the concept of an exit strategy, it also articulates the growing dissatisfaction of the American people with this war, and their beginning to question the sanity of the invasion in the first place. This is quite refreshing, and until mistakes can be acknowledged, something the Bush administration refuses to do, nothing can move forward. Having said that, I really don't care if Bush and his henchmen do finally admit mistakes. As far as I'm concerned, they've blown it. They are history. They failed. Period.

Daiwa

on Jun 13, 2005

Unfortunately, the Democrats don't have an absolute monopoly on poll-sniffers, although they've certainly cornered most of the market.

As for the Boston Globe, nothing coming from it is ever refreshing, and this coming from it is hardly surprising.

I've noticed in our major newspaper a pattern in recent months of steadily moving negative articles about the war closer to the front page and increasing their number over time, culminating in today's edition which gave the lead headline to "US Death Toll in Iraq Reaches 1700" (as if 1698 wasn't newsworthy?). They, of course, had to give the mandatory liberal dig qualifier ("the xxxth soldier to die since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations") not once, but twice in the first two paragraphs.

I've been expecting the liberal media machine to eventually recover from the body blow of the election results and begin to get its legs back beneath it, and my expectations are being met. The absolute silliest stretch was Newsweek's feeble attempt to manufacture Watergate all over again with absurd comparisons to the current administration in its glorifying coverage of Mark Felt. They've just lost it completely and their desperation is so transparent it's bizarre, particularly Jonathan Alter.

But to get back on topic, I agree with Common Sensei's very rational position - a declared exit timetable is a bad idea, particularly with the pace in turning over responsibility to the Iraqis for their own security picking up real steam as we speak. I feel any exit strategy and timetable should be a military matter, not a political hot potato. I have no doubt those commanders want their guys home as quick as possible.

Cheers,
Daiwa

ParaTed2k

on Jun 16, 2005

What kind of brain dead idiot tells the enemy how long they need to hold out, or what circumstances they need to create for us to pack up and leave.

The "exit strategy" BS is nothing but the demands of a bunch of KNOW NOTHING partisans who would rather win political points than do the right thing.

I remember sitting in the desert of Saudi Arabia and Iraq back in 90-91. Guess what, our exit stratedy then was, "when the job is done"

In fact, that is the goal of any mission. We have an objective, now let our troops carry it out and quit the blowhard bullcrap!

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