A Responsible Plan
On Monday Arianna Huffington posted about a plan for ending the war in Iraq. Since I haven't read much spelling out how this could be done, I thought it was useful info.
She starts her post by referencing a Gallup poll that has McCain ahead of both Obama and Clinton in dealing with the war. She says his message of winning the war is simpler than the Democrats' not-so-clear message of ending the war.
A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, developed by Darcy Burner (who's running for Congress in Washington state) lays out how it can be done. Both Obama and Clinton have their own plans, but I haven't done any comparing and contrasting.
Here's a paragraph summary from the report:
“What follows is a series of objectives that, taken together, refocus our current military involvement in the region while repairing damage to the U.S. to prevent a repeat of our mistakes. We have included some sample legislation currently in Congress to show that these objectives have been identified and can be addressed given sufficient political will. We have also included recommendations that the Baker-Hamilton Commission published in the Iraq Study Group Report. In some cases, no existing legislation or clear recommendations exist and new authorizing legislation plus careful planning would be required.”
The summary for A Responsible Plan to End the War, as well as a link to the full plan, is here. The full plan is only about 20 pages, plus an appendix of bills, and is neatly organized. A few tidbits I didn't know or think about:
"Whether we like it or not, Iraq’s neighbors will continue to intervene because they have serious national interests at stake: they have to deal with the refugees, violence, crime, economic shocks and all the other consequences of Iraq’s instability. All of the neighbors have an interest in maintaining stability but they also fear other neighbors gaining advantage. To achieve this goal they have looked for proxies who will carry out their agenda – which makes the situation worse by strengthening various warring parties and creating greater potential for broader regional conflict."
"Many military leaders have spoken out about the need to do far more with diplomatic and economic power to improve the situation in Iraq. Our post-invasion strategies in Iraq have been pursued primarily on military terms, and the diplomatic efforts have not resulted in any substantial progress. Billions of dollars have been wasted on failed reconstruction projects which have been left incomplete or unusable due to incompetence or corruption on the part of the chosen contractors. There has been no serious attempt to revive the Iraqi economy by providing employment and carefully directed economic stimulus. "
"Iraq, prior to the invasion, was one of the more egalitarian societies in the Middle East with respect to women. Over the last five years, however, their status has become increasingly threatened. In order to renew Iraqi civil society, the lives of Iraqi women must be improved and their basic rights protected in Iraqi society."
“The U.S. Constitution is very clear about the process by which legislation is passed: the House and the Senate must each pass the legislation and it must then be signed by the President. The President has no power to make law unilaterally. Our current president, however, has made unprecedented use of “signing statements”_8 in which he attempts to substantially alter the meaning of laws and their interpretation by the courts. These signing statements are a dangerous device that undermines Congress’ constitutional powers and ability to act as a check on the executive.”
Not the most exciting blog material, but I thought it was relevant and useful.
(P.S. I feel the need to apologize for my boring political posts. They're a little selfish. I write about this stuff because it forces me to read and learn things I'd normally just be lazy about and ignore.)
She starts her post by referencing a Gallup poll that has McCain ahead of both Obama and Clinton in dealing with the war. She says his message of winning the war is simpler than the Democrats' not-so-clear message of ending the war.
A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, developed by Darcy Burner (who's running for Congress in Washington state) lays out how it can be done. Both Obama and Clinton have their own plans, but I haven't done any comparing and contrasting.
Here's a paragraph summary from the report:
“What follows is a series of objectives that, taken together, refocus our current military involvement in the region while repairing damage to the U.S. to prevent a repeat of our mistakes. We have included some sample legislation currently in Congress to show that these objectives have been identified and can be addressed given sufficient political will. We have also included recommendations that the Baker-Hamilton Commission published in the Iraq Study Group Report. In some cases, no existing legislation or clear recommendations exist and new authorizing legislation plus careful planning would be required.”
The summary for A Responsible Plan to End the War, as well as a link to the full plan, is here. The full plan is only about 20 pages, plus an appendix of bills, and is neatly organized. A few tidbits I didn't know or think about:
"Whether we like it or not, Iraq’s neighbors will continue to intervene because they have serious national interests at stake: they have to deal with the refugees, violence, crime, economic shocks and all the other consequences of Iraq’s instability. All of the neighbors have an interest in maintaining stability but they also fear other neighbors gaining advantage. To achieve this goal they have looked for proxies who will carry out their agenda – which makes the situation worse by strengthening various warring parties and creating greater potential for broader regional conflict."
"Many military leaders have spoken out about the need to do far more with diplomatic and economic power to improve the situation in Iraq. Our post-invasion strategies in Iraq have been pursued primarily on military terms, and the diplomatic efforts have not resulted in any substantial progress. Billions of dollars have been wasted on failed reconstruction projects which have been left incomplete or unusable due to incompetence or corruption on the part of the chosen contractors. There has been no serious attempt to revive the Iraqi economy by providing employment and carefully directed economic stimulus. "
"Iraq, prior to the invasion, was one of the more egalitarian societies in the Middle East with respect to women. Over the last five years, however, their status has become increasingly threatened. In order to renew Iraqi civil society, the lives of Iraqi women must be improved and their basic rights protected in Iraqi society."
“The U.S. Constitution is very clear about the process by which legislation is passed: the House and the Senate must each pass the legislation and it must then be signed by the President. The President has no power to make law unilaterally. Our current president, however, has made unprecedented use of “signing statements”_8 in which he attempts to substantially alter the meaning of laws and their interpretation by the courts. These signing statements are a dangerous device that undermines Congress’ constitutional powers and ability to act as a check on the executive.”
Not the most exciting blog material, but I thought it was relevant and useful.
(P.S. I feel the need to apologize for my boring political posts. They're a little selfish. I write about this stuff because it forces me to read and learn things I'd normally just be lazy about and ignore.)
posted by Anne at 4:56 PM
2 Comments:
Nah, don't apologize for the political posts! Honestly, I probably would not have read the article but it is different when someone you 'know' takes the time to write about it. More compelled then to take a look and I'm pretty sure that's good for me (and probably others).
I've wondered if people like the idea of ending the war per the Democrats because they just want it to "go away." I think it will probably be a bit of a harsh reality to be in the white house trying to figure out exactly how to extract the U.S.
Thanks for actually looking at it. It's really for my own benefit, but I figure if someone learns something new that's sort of important (and makes them look informed), then I've helped two people.
The war has been such a waste and distraction that it does need to go away so we can move on to everything else that needs attention. However, with the mess that's there, I'm not sure it will ever fully go away.
I think you're right about the harsh reality of extracting the U.S. The complications make my head spin. I feel ignorant of how these things are done. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.
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