Video Link: McCain/Lieberman Plan
For anyone so interested, you can watch Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman outline the rationale for their plan by going to the C-SPAN video page and clicking on the "Sen. McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) on Iraq Troop Surge" link. The remarks are brief, with Sens. McCain and Lieberman each speaking for about 10 minutes.
The thrust of the plan is that given the situation on the ground, increased military forces are needed to allow the formation of a political solution in Iraq. The following quote is from Sen. McCain and begins around the 4:21 mark.
I'd be interested in hearing from those that support a political solution but oppose a troop increase. Under what scenario do you see a political solution taking shape?I believe that the war is still winnable, but to prevail we’ll need to do everything right and the Iraqis will have to do their part. And are we concerned about doing everything right and the Iraqis having to do their part? Of course we are.
There is agreement among most observers that the problems plaguing Iraq require a political solution. We all agree with that. But it's also a lesson of history that unless you have security – security is the necessary precondition for political progress and economic development.
posted by Blaine the Mono @ 6:03 PM
2 Comments:
It pains me to look at the suffering and death in Iraq. However, due to a number of our missteps, I don't think we can be part of the political solution.
I feel strongly that even if we put more boots on the ground to smother the civil war we will not be helping to bring in about a political solution.
I feel that there is going to be more trouble before things get better there, but the only way things get better is that we give a timetable for withdrawl. This forces Iraq to get serious about bringing everyone to the table, or the civil war gets worse. If we give a timetable then this gives a timetable for interested parties to get things done. If we don't then the occupation lingers on with the Iraqi government looking impotent in the eyes of the people.
There is a real chance that this would be a disasterous move. However, if the Iraqi people are hell bent on destroying eachother, then we can not stop this.
We can not solve a civil war, and that is what we have here. I think that our mistakes early on (Abu Graib, disbanding the military, and allowing the looting just for starters) doomed us to not be the force of victory and peace in Iraq. We blew it. I just find it hard to believe that the inevitable increase in violence and death that a sustained increase (or continued occupation) would entail can calm things down.
I wish I had a better answer. I wish anybody had a better answer. I also wish Bush and company had not poisoned the political discourse on Iraq so completely that discourse could be viewed without the partisan taint. I know I find it hard to believe some people in this debate because of how the war was handled, and because I feel that they might have been complicit in the deceptions. This is a real problem.
That being said, I don't think more troops is the answer.
After much thought and reflection, I have come to agree with your position.
Fuck it dude, let's go bowling.
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