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With both parties jousting about whether or not to add more troops to Iraq, as much as many would like to see it, it does not look like an immediate withdrawal is in the cards. Right now some Democrats such as Joseph Biden are positioning themselves against the troop increase, but there are some other cards the Democrats could play that would put the GOP and the Bush Administration in an awkward position.
First, there is the issue of how are we going to pay for those extra troops and where will they come from? Not many communities want to see another repeat of the extended months that were added on to the tours of duty for many National Guard units. Others feel their Guard units have already contributed enough. In addition, the military is near the breaking point in terms of troop strength.
Even if we can somehow find a reasonable solution to where the troops will come from, more troops in Iraq will require additional funds for logistical and other support. If the Democrats were smart they would make any increase in troops budget neutral. And if they really wanted to go for broke they would not support any increase in troops without a corresponding rollback of the Bush tax cuts.
The Democrats have failed to play this card ever since the war began. They could have made the original authorization for Iraq dependent on rolling back the tax cuts, but failed to do so. With the war going badly, domestic needs such as relief for Katrina becoming even more pressing this is a perfect moment for the Democrats to press the equity issue. All they have to do is stand up and say that in tough times, the burden should be shared by all. Right now it is not. This would really set them up for the presidential campaign if they pushed it hard enough.
The second card to play is the issue of the troops themselves. In what is rapidly becoming the longest war in American history, the American people and the Iraqi people still have not been told what is the chief objective of this war. President Bush accuses his critics of wanting to “cut and run” but at the same time he has failed to provide a clear statement of what success in Iraq means. If, as he says, we stay “until the job is done,” what is “the job?” What is “done?”
If we are going to add 50,000 or so troops to Iraq, then the Democrats should insist on a clear statement of purpose as to what these troops will be doing. This is nothing less than any business would ask in hiring new people or any homeowner would ask of someone contracting to put a roof on their house.
Answers like “help train Iraqi troops” should be attacked for their vagueness just as you would ask a roofer why he was going to charge you $10,000? What type of training will these troops be doing? Has this training been used successfully elsewhere? What was our experience in terms of the number of troops we could reasonably expect to train in those cases? Other answers such as “provide support” or “reinforce existing troops” also should not be allowed to stand. They will need to be spelled out as to exactly what these troops will be doing and why.
Finally, we need to demand that the President define in quantifiable terms what the goals are for these troops. If they are to be used to train Iraqi soldiers, how many will they have trained and by when? What will we use as criteria to assure that these Iraqi soldiers have properly “graduated?” This war has gone on too long without specific answers to these questions.
No business, no public organization and certainly not any government agency from the city level on up would be allowed to not state what its targets are in quantifiable terms. CEO’s lose their jobs for not meeting sales, marketing or stock goals. Agency heads also lose their jobs for not meeting the goals that had been set to resolve the issues facing them. And every American who has a job knows all about performance evaluations.
But strangely enough we have not asked our president to tell us what every personnel manager asks of their employees: what are your goals and how do you propose to meet them? With this administration demanding “accountability” from schools and welfare programs, the American people need to demand accountability for Iraq. What equivalent to No Child Left Behind will we use to judge progress in this war that has no purpose?
Again the ball is in the Democrats’ court. Even more, this is a values issue they can get great mileage from if they play it right. The question is will they finally get some spine or will we see more of the same. A lot of lives depend on the answer.
Crossposts: My Left Wing, LeftWord,
Print Posted by: liberalamerican
