Okay, it has been another problematic week in Iraq. Another ambush, and this time three soldiers are absent and presumed abducted. Borrowing a tactic from Hezbollah, huh? An ugly reality of insurgency is that the bad guys keep working on their plans to cause problems all the time that you are busy solving problems. In other related news, Cheney is visiting with the Saudis trying to reassure them that things are on the mend in Iraq. The Saudis are not much buying that line, as they are concerned that their co-religionists there, the Sunnis, are being dumped on by the Shiites under the auspices of Iran. No, the Saudis do not like Iran.
Meanwhile back in the USA, Bush was treated to a private discussion with Minority Leader Boehner and some Congressmen. Oh to have been a fly on the wall of that one. I can guess, actually. The language may have been far more diplomatic, but the gist of it was "You get to retire in a couple years, but some of us want to keep our jobs in 2008. If you can't show us some better results darn quick, you may find some of us ducking out on you in future veto situations."
Good point. The conventional wisdom here is that the Democrats in Congress and the President are like an irresistable force meeting an immovable object, and that public opinion is sort of a wash because the public will blame both of them. But that wisdom breaks down when you glance at the clock ticking down to 2008. Having 60% of the electorate disagreeing with a Commander in Chief who will never face another election is no big deal. But when you are a Congressman, sticking with a policy that has a 60% negative rating is not sustainable when you approach an election.
Where this leaves us in terms of real policy is still unclear, because the situation in Iraq is supposedly in the hands of the Maliki government. It is possible to chafe at the unwillingness of the Shia rulers of Iraq to undertake compromise with the Sunnis, but ultimately we are no longer in charge. We can set all the benchmarks we want in budget legislation, but if the Iraqis ignore it them we accomplish nothing thereby. It is also unfortunately true that the Sunnis are noting that our involvement in Iraq seems to be heading south- and that decreases their interest in compromise. In other Iraq news, our military head in Diyala province asked more more troops to handle increasing insurgent activity there. General Petraeus sent a letter to all U.S. soliders in Iraq requesting that they "take the moral high ground" regarding violence towards Iraqi civilians, after a recent survey revealed widespread unwillingness to report other soldiers for ethical lapses. Grab your popcorn and watch the train wreck- but don't forget you are a passenger.
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Comments: 14
Excellent article and good analysis of the situation!
Nicely written and balanced article. I feel for whatever candidate, for whatever office gets elected after King George abdicates his throne. They will have a mess to clean up.
Namaste, Wayne
By the way nice title and of course the article itself.
I wrote an article recently about a joint diplomatic initiative between Iraqi Sunnis and a group of Shia (the Sadrists). They may find common ground in Iraq before the Democrats and Republicans in the US! Here's the link:
www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976992307
On your larger question, namely, will Republicans in Congress find a voice, events of the last week were interesting, but for me, they beg the question: what on earth--of substance--will the Republicans do to distance themselves from the administration's disastrous Iraq policy, and how long will they wait?
For a while there, I thought that maybe John Warner was going to put his foot down, but obviously somebody got to him. It's a shame. Americans must contact their Senators (including the 21 Republicans whose seats are up in 2008) and Representatives and make their views on Iraq known. Please do your part to stop the madness, death, dismemberment, and misery.
Choo!Chew!
I think the American people will find any 08 GOP offering hard to swallow.
I bit and I'm bitter.
Nice Post.
Yellow Cowards.