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Asking the Hard Questions About the Iraq War
Six years ago this week, President George W. Bush launched our nation into one of the most disastrous, misguided and dangerous military actions in our history - the initial invasion and proceeding occupation of Iraq.
Now, as a new administration seeks to withdraw troops from Iraq, it's essential that the media, the public and those of us in elected office hold them accountable.
This time, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for those of us who support President Obama (who himself opposed the invasion from the beginning), we must hold our Iraq policy accountable and demand answers to tough questions regarding how and when our occupation of Iraq will end.
Last month, Obama laid forth a time line for the drawdown of our military presence in Iraq. His proposal would have two-thirds of our troops home by August 2010, with the remaining force of 50,000 scheduled to leave by the end of 2011, almost three years from now. While his announcement received praise from both sides of the political aisle, it has not received an honest and frank discussion of its merits and potential faults.
Americans seem to be collectively trying to forget about Iraq, and while we appreciate the president's decision, his declaration allows us to simply move on and focus on other issues. While this reaction is understandable, it is also dangerous.
We cannot afford to ignore the enormous risks and potential sacrifices that loom ahead. As founders of the Out of Iraq Caucus, our position has been clear all along. We opposed the war and occupation from the start, and we have worked day-in and day-out to end it.
We believe that ending the occupation of Iraq means redeploying all troops and all military contractors out of Iraq. It also means leaving behind no permanent bases and renouncing any claims upon Iraqi oil.
We remain concerned about the president's plan - not opposed to it, but concerned. The plan calls for 127,000 troops to stay in Iraq until the end of this year, and for 50,000 troops to remain in Iraq for another two-and-a-half years after that. We cannot imagine the need for such an enormous military commitment. How did military planners agree on such a large residual force, one which is comparable in size to our force levels in South Korea at the height of the Cold War?
What role will this transitional force play in the event that violence flares back up?
And what steps are being taken to address the 190,000 American contractors in Iraq and to dismantle our permanent bases? These questions must be addressed before we can move forward.
America's interests in Iraq and the region will best be advanced by reducing the size of our military footprint and making greater use of our other assets of national power, including diplomacy, reconciliation, commerce, development assistance and humanitarian aid.
As we solemnly mark the beginning of a seventh year of the conflict in Iraq, we not only reflect on the incredible sacrifices made by the men and women who serve in the military, but also demand an honest assessment of the potential future obstacles that their brothers and sisters in arms will face.
We urge everyone to remain engaged and continue to aggressively question Iraq war policy. This includes Republicans, Democrats, independents and, especially, the news media. We must all be willing to ask the hard questions as we work toward the common goal of ending the war and occupation, redeploying all American troops and military contractors out of Iraq and reuniting them with their families and loved ones.
As Obama has said, "We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in."
- Posted in
32 Comments so far
Show AllThe very few in congress who have the strength to stand up to such murderous policies as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be applauded. Barbera Lee, you will always be commended for having been the sole voice of opposition to the passing of the disgraceful, so-called Patriot Act. We need more people like yourselves in congress who are not willing to be simply spokespersons for the capitalist class. As Bob Dylan once sang "Only a pawn in their game."
This is an excellent assessment of where we stand and where we're going in Iraq. The first really good, honestly sober, portrayal I've seen---without histrionics and cries of doom seen so often by left-wing pundits.
Thank you congresswomen!
We remain concerned about the president's plan - not opposed to it, but concerned.
__________________________________________
I don't mean to be unkind to the politically impotent authors of this piece, but they are, or were, members of a nominal "opposition party" that is (at best) more of a "concerned party".
The Obama administration, which is about as transparent as a bowling ball-- and not one of those clear Lucite bowling balls, either-- may or may not clear up the concerns of the authors.
I noted months ago, when this site was crusted thick with lesser-evil Obama zealots pushing the "hold-his-feet-to-the-fire" aka "MAKE him do it!", that they might find that what they are actually holding to the fire are cloven hooves which are naturally accustomed to, and quite comfortable in, warm environments. The evidence since then has accrued entirely in support of this, er... concern.
So, with all due respect, I assert that the promising and high-minded rhetoric in this article is pretty much the sum and substance of the authors' "aggressive" attempts to wring the WHOLE truth from the feckless and mendacious new maladministration. If answers are not forthcoming, perhaps another article-- or even a sternly-worded letter to the White House-- may be deployed.
But come what may, this group and their depraved partners in crime will continue to VOTE in support of anything the president advocates. "Reluctantly" vote, perhaps, in order to save face with the antiwar progressive voters to whom they may be genuinely sympathetic.
How long before they encourage us to hang in there and keep the faith until Obama's vital SECOND term, in which he'll finally have amassed the "political capital" to do the right thing?
If the Opposition Party couldn't actually OPPOSE their OPPONENT, how likely are they to grow teeth and claws to assert themselves upon one of their own?
· Yr Obd't Servant
Obedient Servant
That line by the [alleged] Out of Iraq Caucus also stood out to me. The authors of the article correctly note how Obama is going to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq as well as 140,000 civilian contractors and yet they cannot bring themselves to condemn Obama's militant actions by opposing what he is proposing.
Your last line is an excellent example of how [alleged] antiwar Democrats are very good at stating pithy platitudes but in the end up succumb to once again placing party over principle.
Obama an agent of hope and change? Certainly not for the Afghans, Iraqis and Pakistanis.
Brilliant analysis Servant...and all the other comments I've read. I am also fond of attacking the "war" framing. How do we get out of the "preaching to the converted" mode? Seriously, has anyone had success in engaging our more infantile citizens on this issue?
I assume you are speaking of Congress?
Those who started this war are, under the Nuremberg ruling, war criminals.
Arrest & execute the war criminal Bush Administration.
NUREMBERG II 2009
I agree, they are indeed, war criminals.
This deliberate agression has destroyed America and as Dick Cheney (and the Israeli people) so eloquently said: "So?"
I'm with Uncle Ho and I would add that those who keep this war going are also war criminals! The US has lost all credibility and it is up to the international community to put the strongest pressure on the US to end it's terrorist occupations. The Israelis are in on this also, and they are another terrorist state. Boycott, Divest and Sanction these countries until they decide to join the human family by serving up justice and bringing the arch criminals to prosecution with the full extent of the law! Take away their money and you divest them of their power...plain and simple!!
I'll go along with what you say here. But don't forget Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
Here's another 'hard question' to ask:
What "war"? The U.S.A. is neither officially nor Constitutionally in a state of war with the country of Iraq... or Afghanistan... or any other country on Earth.
So here's another 'hard question': why are "our" representatives still using the Bush/Cheney/Rove frame "Iraq War?"
God bless those 3. If only more members of Congress could and would think like them on this matter. President Obama, please listen and take heart of these 3 congresswomen. Our young need your help and folks like myself are getting too old and sick to keep up.
I will join you and we can hope Obama listens
"We believe that ending the occupation of Iraq means redeploying all troops and all military contractors out of Iraq. It also means leaving behind no permanent bases and renouncing any claims upon Iraqi oil."
Our oil companies won't like that. They've killed lots of people for it. Obama will need full body armor, a food taster, a gas mask and some injectable anti-toxins.
"We urge everyone to remain engaged and continue to aggressively question Iraq war policy. This includes Republicans, Democrats, independents and, especially, the news media."
Urging Republicans, conservative Democrats and the news media doesn't seem to work very well. For the first two, Obama has to ask, does he need them? The last one can be corrected by a reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine improved.
Obedient Servant, very well said.
Why don't these three congresswomen tell us something we don't know? "Asking the hard questions About the Iraq War": What the hell do they think we've been doing these last 6 years, anyway?? We're weak from calling and writing to them and our own representatives, and going to protest marches ad infinitum, with no positive results. I used to admire the Black Caucus. I was so proud of Maxine and Sheila Jackson-Lee and Barbara Lee when they stood up and challenged the election of Bush in 2000. Now the Black Caucus is just a shell of it's former self. The only one who has any guts is former member Cynthia McKinney.
Ron Paul has been asking those hard questions from day one. Where did it get him?
Good luck to the three ladies who want us to keep the Iraq war issue alive, but the American public has tuned out (unless one of their own was killed or wounded).
With the same military leaders in place, Obama will have a hard time getting the troops out, unless he uses his power as Commander in Chief and makes it happen.
Indiscriminately killing civilians is NOT 'war' - it is murder, plain and simple. Iraq had no decent military force to oppose the US - a couple aging tanks are NOT a modern military. This farce has gone on long enough. This is nothing but a cruel, vicious, brutal, barbaric occupation of a land situated over lakes of oil. No different than what the Nazis and Imperial Japanese did during WWII - although those entities at least faced some REAL military opposition. Both Axis and Allied military forces engaged in outright terrorism - the slaughter of innocent civilians. Nuremberg only prosecuted the losers, as was done in Japan - and even those egregious war criminals considered 'useful' by the victorious parties escaped judgement. It was all a farce too. No Allied war criminal EVER faced trial - as even Curtis LeMay, one of the worst, himself noted.
These are all fine and honorable congresswomen, thanks for trying.
However i have a little postcard with Barbara Lee's unforgettable post 9/11 quote, begging her colleagues not to seek revenge. it says
"Let us not become the evil we deplore"
then what happened next was we did exactly what she warned us not to, and piled multiple war crimes on top of it. obama is also continuing with this. adding further to the misery of Afghanistan, and opening up a third front with his predator raids on Pakistan.
we really need a lot of peace right now, women, more than you are asking for.
Barbara Lee joins with Wayne Morse and Ernest Greuning (both of whom voted againt the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and took a lot of heat for it), in being not only principled but also right.
Poet
And Mike Mansfeild also, along w/William Fulbright who helped push through the resolution but when he'd found out that he'd been duped openly chastized Johnson for being a liar.
A commendable history. And it should be a lesson. However, misplaced and irrelevant contrary to popular belief.
Obama's difficulty exiting Iraq might be being exacerbated, silently, behind the scenes, by the same forces that led us by the nose into Iraq, the NeoCons/Israel.
They 86'd Freeman, are working to get the Missile Deffense system from Russia to Iran axed and just may, they dropped the Twin Towers, they are still ultra powerful.
And they want us in Iraq. Because they are gonna light up Iran soon, and draw the US in. US bases, personell & equipment all will play a huge role.
A Fortunate Son, Joe.
I appreciate these Congresswomen for at least continuing to raise the issue but I've got to go with O. Servant on this one. We need bolder opposition than they can offer within the Dem. Party. Maybe the Congresswomen will join many of us in NY on April 4 to protest the war econocmy.
What Were They Like?
by Denise Levertov
Did the people of Viet Nam
use lanterns of stone?
Did they hold ceremonies
to reverence the opening of buds?
Were they inclined to quiet laughter?
Did they use bone and ivory,
jade and silver, for ornament?
Had they an epic poem?
Did they distinguish between speech and singing?
Sir, their light hearts turned to stone.
It is not remembered whether in gardens
stone gardens illumined pleasant ways.
Perhaps they gathered once to delight in blossom,
but after their children were killed
there were no more buds.
Sir, laughter is bitter to the burned mouth.
A dream ago, perhaps. Ornament is for joy.
All the bones were charred.
it is not remembered. Remember,
most were peasants; their life
was in rice and bamboo.
When peaceful clouds were reflected in the paddies
and the water buffalo stepped surely along terraces,
maybe fathers told their sons old tales.
When bombs smashed those mirrors
there was time only to scream.
There is an echo yet
of their speech which was like a song.
It was reported their singing resembled
the flight of moths in moonlight.
Who can say? It is silent now.
One of my favorite.
"This time, no matter how uncomfortable it may be for those of us who support President Obama (who himself opposed the invasion from the beginning)"
How uncomfortable is lying? O'Bama fully supported the occupation with blank check after blank check after blank check.
Reps. Waters, Woosley and Lee, we the real progressives (75% of the US population) understand that your California constituents like to design/build military hardware and need the military occupation in order to personally thrive (build bigger mcmansions, buy new suvs each year). This is why you lie!
Why anyone with any shred of human decency left would give credence, at this point, to anything any congressperson says about “the war” is hard to understand.
You mean the endless war where we make shit up as we go along to try to justify our continuing criminal rampage to control the world and all those who may wish us ill?
Notice how these women have no words for the Iraqi people nor about the unimaginable suffering we have caused them.
No, it’s always about how are we going to fix this big puh-litical mess...the one we stirred-up in the first place. Even Big Liar Powell acknowledged, if you break it you pay for it. Quaint. All those "others" as so much busted crockery.
Screw your “hard questions”. And your honorifics. There is no more honor. Congress is dis-eased and broken. Any good you ever may have done in office is rubbed out by your capitulation to the foulest most unAmerican set of policies in our lifetime. You all ought to resign.
But failing that, if you're the "good guys", how about some fucking answers?
nothing is revealed
exactly, rob o_caul!
this sentence:
As we solemnly mark the beginning of a seventh year of the conflict in Iraq, we not only reflect on the incredible sacrifices made by the men and women who serve in the military, but also demand an honest assessment of the potential future obstacles that their brothers and sisters in arms will face.
what about the good people of iraq?
this glory worship and obsession with heroes in the military must end. your soldiers sacrifice zilch. they are there by choice. it's their effin' job. they are paid to do it. stop glorifying the military and these dead enders who are brainwashed into believing they are involved in some noble struggle to bring freedom and democracy to the world. it's a bunch of bullshit. they are effin' pawns used by the elite to carry out their agenda. and just remember one very important and scary thing: 9/11 was planned and carried out by the same people who are sending american troops into afghanistan and iraq. american imperialism has been alive and well for over 100 years.
"...Americans seem to be collectively trying to forget about Iraq, and while we appreciate the president's decision, his declaration allows us to simply move on..."
I just love this statement of denial. Take it up with ms. Pelosi, girls. That's right, lower case 'ms.' After 6 years of watching the democratic party do nothing but shame every American, writing their representative on the criminal actions of the Bush admin. with every form of petition known to be legal, all of a sudden we get milk toast for a diabetic diet?'
Please... Don't call us until you have accomplished more than run game on us. You know as well as everybody on this site you are a bunch of malingering cowards even as you may have tried and failed. There is just no excuse.
My final 2 cents worth on this distraction from being enslaved to their benefactors id: If it's so godamned important now after 6 years of the politic screaming in your deaf ears. why don't you use your power and shut this fucking thing down until everything is resolved about this issue and let the fucking banks and insurance companies rot?
You know damn good and well that this is a precedent to prevent a single payer health care system and to bankrupt Social Security. You will never admit it and none of your criminal cronies will either.
I have no support for 'johnny-come-latelys' with a false sense of bravado, and piss poor timing.
Barbara Lee has provided great leadership before as in right after the 9/11 attacks. Now she can lead again. She has been a voice for reason when reason seemed to be going out the door in the US political system.
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