Strategic Redeployment
Robert Rouse
February 21, 2006
Iraq is quickly becoming the most unpopular war outside of Vietnam. The numbers are clear, according to the latest Gallup Poll - 55% of Americans believe the war was a mistake. These numbers have remained virtually unchanged since the early summer of 2005, and yet we are still there.
The Bush administration's rhetoric about the war has also remained virtually unchanged - stay the course. While there are still a few hardliners who are following the folly of Bush's little war at any cost, there must be some consternation about what this position might do for their chances of reelection this November. The only thing the Republicans had going for them with this policy was the fact that the Democrats had failed to come up with a valid alternative - and now this may have changed, thanks to a former Reagan Administration assistant Defense secretary.
This past fall, Lawrence J. Korb co-authored a report called "strategic redeployment". The idea behind the report is very similar to a proposal made by Pennsylvania's 12 Congressional district Representative, John Murtha. The process is broad, but simple and probably a whole lot more effective. Quickly remove most of the troops from Iraq and place them in other spots in the region. Here they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and assist in fighting terrorism in other nations. The over-all plan would see all troops out of Iraq by 2007.
This plan has a lot going for it. First and foremost, it would take our troops out of harm's way. While in Iraq, they are basically stationary targets for terrorists and insurgents or clustered moving targets for suicide car bombers. Secondly, it would assuage the feeling in the region that the United States is an occupying force rather than liberators. A little good will is what we need right now and pulling back without totally abandoning the area would go a long way in that department. Thirdly, we could maintain a presence in the region and operate like more of a S.W.A.T. team than a police force.
Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, has enthusiastically endorsed Korb's plan. Also on board is Rhode Island Senator, Jack Reed, who believes Korb's concepts could coalesce the Democratic party and provide them with a unified position on Iraq.
But the plan needs much more. We need to turn over the reconstruction of Iraq over to people who have a vested interest in success - the Iraqis. As of now, the majority of the construction that is taking place by companies sub-contracted by Halliburton has been inside the relative calm and safety of the Green Zone and there are other areas outside this sector that are in desperate need of repair. On several occasions, I have spent time with Cliff Kindy, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team, who has been in Iraq three times since 2003. Cliff knows first hand that many of the Iraqis who are working with the insurgency are only doing it as a means to support their families. The insurgents offer money to Iraqis to act as diversions, plant bombs, and offer intelligence. While many are upset with the United States over the occupation, most would never work with a violent group except as a final option to feed their children. Cliff, who knows the language and the people, believes the vast majority of Iraqi citizens would prefer to work rebuilding the country instead of taking lives.
In addition, Cliff has been told by Iraqis that if the United States ceased the low flyovers by jets and helicopters in residential neighborhoods, there would be less resentment. After relentless bombing during the opening salvo of the war, innocent Iraqis who were traumatized with nerve shattering explosions, now have to put up with their evening sleep being disrupted by military aircraft rumbling overhead on a nightly basis.
We need to call this a victory (we toppled Saddam and made sure the imagined "Weapons of Mass Destruction" were not actually there) and pull back a little. There is no shame, irregardless of what Bush's Sock-puppet General infers (Scott McClellan said the Murtha plan amounted to "surrender to the terrorists." ). Our military and the outlandish amount of money we're wasting in Iraq should be put to better use. We can put a stop to the backdoor draft and let the guys who finished their initial time of enlistment a year ago get back home to their loved ones. There really wasn't ever a bad peace or a good war, so let's put an end to this bad war and work a little bit harder for a good peace.
The Bush administration's rhetoric about the war has also remained virtually unchanged - stay the course. While there are still a few hardliners who are following the folly of Bush's little war at any cost, there must be some consternation about what this position might do for their chances of reelection this November. The only thing the Republicans had going for them with this policy was the fact that the Democrats had failed to come up with a valid alternative - and now this may have changed, thanks to a former Reagan Administration assistant Defense secretary.
This past fall, Lawrence J. Korb co-authored a report called "strategic redeployment". The idea behind the report is very similar to a proposal made by Pennsylvania's 12 Congressional district Representative, John Murtha. The process is broad, but simple and probably a whole lot more effective. Quickly remove most of the troops from Iraq and place them in other spots in the region. Here they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and assist in fighting terrorism in other nations. The over-all plan would see all troops out of Iraq by 2007.
This plan has a lot going for it. First and foremost, it would take our troops out of harm's way. While in Iraq, they are basically stationary targets for terrorists and insurgents or clustered moving targets for suicide car bombers. Secondly, it would assuage the feeling in the region that the United States is an occupying force rather than liberators. A little good will is what we need right now and pulling back without totally abandoning the area would go a long way in that department. Thirdly, we could maintain a presence in the region and operate like more of a S.W.A.T. team than a police force.
Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, has enthusiastically endorsed Korb's plan. Also on board is Rhode Island Senator, Jack Reed, who believes Korb's concepts could coalesce the Democratic party and provide them with a unified position on Iraq.
But the plan needs much more. We need to turn over the reconstruction of Iraq over to people who have a vested interest in success - the Iraqis. As of now, the majority of the construction that is taking place by companies sub-contracted by Halliburton has been inside the relative calm and safety of the Green Zone and there are other areas outside this sector that are in desperate need of repair. On several occasions, I have spent time with Cliff Kindy, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team, who has been in Iraq three times since 2003. Cliff knows first hand that many of the Iraqis who are working with the insurgency are only doing it as a means to support their families. The insurgents offer money to Iraqis to act as diversions, plant bombs, and offer intelligence. While many are upset with the United States over the occupation, most would never work with a violent group except as a final option to feed their children. Cliff, who knows the language and the people, believes the vast majority of Iraqi citizens would prefer to work rebuilding the country instead of taking lives.
In addition, Cliff has been told by Iraqis that if the United States ceased the low flyovers by jets and helicopters in residential neighborhoods, there would be less resentment. After relentless bombing during the opening salvo of the war, innocent Iraqis who were traumatized with nerve shattering explosions, now have to put up with their evening sleep being disrupted by military aircraft rumbling overhead on a nightly basis.
We need to call this a victory (we toppled Saddam and made sure the imagined "Weapons of Mass Destruction" were not actually there) and pull back a little. There is no shame, irregardless of what Bush's Sock-puppet General infers (Scott McClellan said the Murtha plan amounted to "surrender to the terrorists." ). Our military and the outlandish amount of money we're wasting in Iraq should be put to better use. We can put a stop to the backdoor draft and let the guys who finished their initial time of enlistment a year ago get back home to their loved ones. There really wasn't ever a bad peace or a good war, so let's put an end to this bad war and work a little bit harder for a good peace.