September 20, 2006

A Coherent Democratic Position on Iraq

 

“And so, Mr./Ms. Democratic candidate, what is your plan to deal with the Iraq war - a war that you and/or many of your colleagues voted for way back when?” This challenge has paralyzed many Democrats’ ability to offer an effective challenge to current leadership at a time it is desperately needed. I want to offer a couple of perspectives that might help.

 

First, it must be accepted and made clear that there is probably no easy or attractive exit from this awful situation. Challenging Democrats to come up with a plan to clean up a serious mess that the current administration forced on our country is a clever Republican strategy, and one that needs to be responded to with care, as well as firmness and clarity.

 

We need to help the public keep in mind that the intractable problem of this moment was caused by the unfortunate and duplicitous rush to war in the first place, and the incompetent non-planning that caused severe mismanagement, especially after the ridiculous “Mission Accomplished” speech of our fearless and often feckless leader. Perhaps worst of all, this fiasco represents the inherent limitations of the group presently running our country. Things will never be different with the same folks in charge.

 

Democrats, of course, need to come up with an approach that will minimize the damage from this disastrous adventure.  But the responsibility for this tragedy and its consequences needs to remain with its perpetrators. These errors and bad judgment have already cost us immeasurably, especially regarding the real “war on terror” in whose name it was launched. Thanks to this failed policy, all we can do now is find the least costly way to disentangle ourselves from this awful situation.

 

Whatever the best plan for disengagement, one aspect is certain – that we need people to lead us out of this labyrinth who are not attached to defending and justifying the policies or people that got us into it in the first place. The broad outlines of a plausible policy are becoming clear - turning over the responsibility to the Iraqis, encouraging the political compromises that will strengthen the government, making very clear that our commitment to this adventure is limited and taking steps to contain the ultimate cost to our own security. New leadership can also admit, if necessary, that current strategies are in the context of an adventure that should not have been launched, at least in the way it was, in the first place.

 

We need new leadership that can re-establish credible principles of conduct and relationships. What most continues to amaze me is the inability for this president and his entourage to see the world from others’ perspectives. He recently chided North Korea for conducting their missile test even though “six nations had asked them not to do it”, as if that so clearly made the North Koreans imposters in the human race. How many countries pleaded with this administration not to invade Iraq? Of course it did so, seriously harming relationships that we now need to help with the transition?

 

Clearly, to make this position stand up, it will be necessary for some Democrats to disavow their vote for the resolution that gave the President the power to go to war in the first place. This needn’t be the problem it is often made out to be. Doing so sooner might even have won us the previous election.

 

A consulting mentor of mine has a saying: “Perfect vulnerability is perfect protection.” I believe this applies in some political situations. “I made a mistake, which I regret, and certainly will not make again,” is a position that isn’t so easy to attack. This can be made even stronger by describing the most serious aspect of this particular mistake as underestimating the extent to which this administration would use the resolution to take us obsessively into an unnecessary war in ways it was never envisioned by most of the senators who voted for it. “I just couldn’t imagine how bad they were. Sorry - my bad.”

 

Let’s begin as anew as is possible under the current circumstances. We need to begin a new and better chapter in our history.