Iraq: what will the Democrats do?

[T_i_B]

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/10/20/iraq_what_will_the_democrats_do.html

If the Republicans could fight the midterms on economic grounds alone, they would be home and dry. Company profits are surging, the Dow Jones has broken through 12,000 for the first time and Americans are showing little pain from slowing growth.

But everything comes back to Iraq, which has turned into the millstone around the Republican neck. If the polls turn out to be right, the Democrats are set to regain control of the House - and perhaps of the Senate.

The Foley sex scandal has not helped, but it is mainly Iraq that has put the kibosh on the Republicans. In a telling sign, the Republicans are already starting to blame each other for the expected defeat.

If the Democrats do reverse the House gains of the 1994 "Republican revolution", what then on Iraq?

[wryter2000]

1. Well, let's see...

If the Mooney Times is to be believed (never a sure thing), James Baker is going to make three recommendations to Bush about Iraq:

1) partition the country -- an idea put forth first by Joe Biden, a Dem

2) redeploy to nearby -- an idea put forth first by John Murtha, a Dem

3) encourage the Iraqi military to overthrow the current government and install a "strong man," Saddam-type dictator. We didn't think of that one and for good reason.

So, tell me again how the Dems have no idea?

[T_i_B]

3. "So, tell me again how the Dems have no idea?"

Well I wouldn't tell you that, although if you guys are anything like us lot over here then you may not be united on the exact solution just yet. Still, as long as we can have a constructive debate and try and do some good for Iraq for once it's all well and good.

[wryter2000]

7. I didn't mean you or anyone at DU

I was addressing the person who wrote the column, but I was very sloppy. Sorry.

[T_i_B]

8. Well, if you read the article,

...it's faily obvious that the author does know about plenty of Democrat ideas regarding Iraq. It's hardly a GOP hit piece I'm pleased to say.

[RufusEarl]

2. I want to believe that the Dem's

will bring Iraq to a conclusion, post haste!!

[MrModerate]

4. The economic issues are not necessarily Republican wins . . .

Profits (untaxed), stocks (not owned by most voters), slowing growth (coupled with wage stagnation now half a decade old) -- all these are issues the 'Licans have a lot of 'splainin' to do about, and also contribute to "wrong direction" and "uncertainty about economy" poll responses. Not to mention that the "War on Terror" (which isn't a war at all and shouldn't be thought of as such) is being lost outside of Iraq; and that the "axis of evil" countries have made the US (and the UK) a laughingstock world-wide; and that cherished American values of fair play have been shat upon . . .

Etc., etc.,

But yes, Iraq is the quagmire that just keeps sucking.

What to do? Phased withdrawal. A deadline to the Iraqi government after which they have to take over their own affairs. It's only partially that the current leaders are allowing the open-ended promise of American military involvement to justify their not taking ultimate responsibility; it's also that, until coalition forces are largely out of the picture, the current government can have no legitimacy with the people. The militias are empowered by the fact that the government is an American puppet. Just getting us out will lend Maliki, et al, power.

Whether they can survive is far from certain. The whole country is wrecked now; the national fabric is in tatters. But the Kurds will be able to take care of themselves, and the Shiites in the south will (after a period of savage internecine struggle) take care of themselves. The Sunnis in the "heartland" -- oiless and with the multi-ethnic Baghdad a canker in their breast -- are fucked. Too bad, since they're the seed from which a secular Iraq could (maybe) have grown.

But America can't fix that problem and needs to let the fires burn without adding more fuel. Negotiations with Saudi, Kuwait, Jordan, and (to the degree possible) Syria and Iran are also crucial, and if handled sensibly, likely to work -- none of those countries wants chaos on their borders.

[Parisle]

5. Hey,...Wait a minute, here.....

---- It would seem to me that one of the most fundamental challenges to the democrats is to get in there and acknowledge, explain and demonstrate to ordinary working Americans just why surging corporate profits and a rising Dow Jones index DO NOT translate into the best overall economy for the general population. Profits and stock prices are more the result of Enron-style accounting, than of solid advances in the economy America once had. For Christ's sake,.. 95% of our clothes are foreign-made. Wages slipping. The "American Dream" is fading, and that should be a resonant message from the democrats.

---- Thanks to the deceit and incompetence of the Bush administration, the Iraq war is taking care of itself as a crippling issue for the GOP. And it is major in the election, granted. But the economy is the greater issue in the long run, along with executive usurpation.

[kenny blankenship]

6. Bush'll send them a Supplemental Appropriations Bill ea. month (for War)

Forcing them to show their love for the troops on a regular basis, so that he can say his war has bipartisan support and those that want to stop it are unAmerican and out of the mainstream. The corpwhoreate media will love it.
This is a trap of polarization. Bush will force them to either be FOR the war or AGAINST it, meaning immediate defunding and withdrawal. By making them re-fund the war frequently he can keep the House Dems FOR the war, or risk the accusation of not giving our beloved sacred troops the things they need to stay alive.
They will be forced to choose to continue the war or call for withdrawal.
I'd like to think they can see this trap coming and will be resolved to end the war, rather than get coerced into reluctantly continuing it (and being accused of treason in '08 anyway). From what we've seen though, I have to say I have no faith that they will evade Bush's trap.

[fencesitter]

9. Or he could declare tem all enemy combatants

round 'em up, put 'em away.