Leaving Iraq
Michelle Malsbury, BSBM, MM
August 02, 2007
Greek Philosopher Heraclitus said “Nothing endures but change.” America voted in the November 2006 midterms for change, but change has yet to come. Most of America agrees that the United States needs to bring our troops home from Iraq contrary to what the republican nominees for President and the current Administration believe.
Sometimes the best picture of success or failure can come from the most unlikely candidates. A variety of people have traveled to Iraq and come back with conflicting opinions as to what is happening and what will most likely happen if/when we leave. At best that is like looking into a crystal ball and hoping to find some conclusive answers to the unknown. Admittedly, I am on the outside looking in, but I’ve got some logical plans that can aide America in exiting Iraq.
One of the major problems that I can see has been that the Bush Administration never had a real idea of what they hoped to achieve from this invasion past taking out Saddam Hussein and even that was muddled and marred by the non-existent WMD’s and “axis of evil” commentary. Setting realistic and readily achievable goals is part of creating a comprehensive plan. Outlining one goal, and a weak one at that, achieving that, and nothing past that goal does not render a situation a success. This much ridiculed statement made by President Bush afterward, “Mission Accomplished” just proves how remiss and inept that planning process was. Iraq is not and cannot become a “mission accomplished” with the United States troops occupying that country and no goals past trying to force peace by waging more war.
Tossing more money and more troops into an intolerable situation will not produce the desired results, which one would hope might be peace. Honest leadership is crucial to goal attainment. There is nobody in the current administration capable of being a credible leader. Incompetence breeds more incompetence and I believe that the Bush Administration is delusional and incompetent. What leadership means is having someone who is capable of setting forth a realistic plan along with readily achievable milestones that can be ticked off at regular intervals to see if their plan is working. If there are things in the plan that are not working there need to be contingency plans or alternatives to what has not been working. Five years into a war is a little late to try to fix the number of things that are wrong especially if the current leadership cannot admit that they have been wrong.
Government is comprised of elected officials that are and should be responsible to those who handed them their elected posts. Congress has been remiss in allowing the Bush Administration to run ruffshod over them and dolling out more leash than is acceptable to the American public with no oversight. War is a serious business and one that should only be entered into as a last result and only if there cannot be amicable resolve via diplomacy. The Bush Administration never intended to employ diplomacy. The people within the Bush Administration are mere puppets for Carl Rove and Dick Cheney who pulls their strings and call the shots in the name of the almighty lame duck Bush who sits cowering behind the screen much like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. They have no heart, soul, nor spine without bullying tactics, lies, and distortions. Soon the curtain will be pulled back to reveal their incompetence to the world and then where will they hide?
I propose the following; create and communicate a timetable certain for our troops to exit Iraq-the sooner the better, provide the necessary funding and structure to keep that plan on track, allow the people of Iraq to determine who and how they want to be divided, rebuilt, and governed-the Kurds have already structured themselves as such and can serve as an example to the Sunni and Shia, communicate, negotiate, and plan strategically and tactically with all countries that border Iraq in order that they are able to secure their own borders which will keep peace within and hopefully terror out.
As you can see communicate is at or near the top of all of my suggestions for leaving Iraq. Without thoughtful and frequent communication even the best plans can become unattainable. Communication keeps all people organized and working from the same page. Communication keeps people abreast of any developing problems so that they can be mitigated prior to becoming unmanageable. Communication ensures that all people know the direction they are taking and how they fit into the larger scheme of things. Communication has been non-existent or absolutely remiss in the Bush Administrations approach to just about everything and as such destines them to failure.
Information needs to be shared, consistent, and understood between all levels of leadership and/or participants in all planning scenarios. Information should be current, honest, and credible. Reports need be distributed to all members/participants in the plan involved in the exit process at regular intervals so there is no problem keeping everyone up to date with their various roles and responsibilities. Hold frequent meetings and discussions. Do not exclude anyone from group discussions or decision making. Allow all participants a turn to speak freely about their concerns, problems, or potential risks. Take this time to reflect and redefine goals and objectives that can keep all participants moving in the same direction. A problem with the Bush Administration is that nobody can go against their plans without being fired or demoted and this sets a dangerous precedent for honest communication…fear.
Plans are set in motion in order that they might be accomplished. Plans set the direction and provide detail of what is to be done, done by whom, and what resources are necessary in order that the plan will be successful. Plans sometimes need to be partnered in order to effectively and efficiently bring about change. Peace brokers from outside of the Bush Administration need to be offered to help settle the various needs of participants in the Middle East region and smooth over the feathers ruffled by the Bush Administrations lack of diplomacy, dishonesty in offering no-bid contracts to friends of the Administration, and preemptive strikes on innocent nations. Our credibility on the world map is of consequence from these bold bullying tactics used by the Bush Administration without thought to consequence which has in effect left the remainder of the world to feel there is no team approach to problem solving, only actions and reactions made on a unilateral basis.
Exiting Iraq will mean that the United States participate in and take on some diplomatic responsibility for ensuring that all bordering countries in that region are satisfied with the proposed end result. Exiting means that we recognize that there is not a military solution to the host of problems the Bush Administrations invasion set in motion, but that solutions need be found from the inside looking out. The United States needs to let Iraq sort out the issues that are of import to them instead of telling them how they ought to do it. Let Iraq evolve into the Iraq that the people of Iraq are proud to be part of instead of a puppet state of the United States as Bush and his cronies would like to see.
To those who espouse that we are fighting terror over there so we do not have to fight it here I say who are you fooling? That is rubbish! If the United States knows that Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan then why do we wage war in Iraq? Tripe! I believe that the best way to thwart terror is to be offensive and that means we should secure our borders, ports, railways, and air terminals. Fighting terror will take a commitment and agreement between the United States and all of the world to intercept and share intelligence data, doing so means we need to communicate with the rest of the world and not isolate ourselves from them as the Bush Administration has done time and again. I say we can combat terror with peace, diplomacy, and cooperation around the globe! Give peace a chance!
Sometimes the best picture of success or failure can come from the most unlikely candidates. A variety of people have traveled to Iraq and come back with conflicting opinions as to what is happening and what will most likely happen if/when we leave. At best that is like looking into a crystal ball and hoping to find some conclusive answers to the unknown. Admittedly, I am on the outside looking in, but I’ve got some logical plans that can aide America in exiting Iraq.
One of the major problems that I can see has been that the Bush Administration never had a real idea of what they hoped to achieve from this invasion past taking out Saddam Hussein and even that was muddled and marred by the non-existent WMD’s and “axis of evil” commentary. Setting realistic and readily achievable goals is part of creating a comprehensive plan. Outlining one goal, and a weak one at that, achieving that, and nothing past that goal does not render a situation a success. This much ridiculed statement made by President Bush afterward, “Mission Accomplished” just proves how remiss and inept that planning process was. Iraq is not and cannot become a “mission accomplished” with the United States troops occupying that country and no goals past trying to force peace by waging more war.
Tossing more money and more troops into an intolerable situation will not produce the desired results, which one would hope might be peace. Honest leadership is crucial to goal attainment. There is nobody in the current administration capable of being a credible leader. Incompetence breeds more incompetence and I believe that the Bush Administration is delusional and incompetent. What leadership means is having someone who is capable of setting forth a realistic plan along with readily achievable milestones that can be ticked off at regular intervals to see if their plan is working. If there are things in the plan that are not working there need to be contingency plans or alternatives to what has not been working. Five years into a war is a little late to try to fix the number of things that are wrong especially if the current leadership cannot admit that they have been wrong.
Government is comprised of elected officials that are and should be responsible to those who handed them their elected posts. Congress has been remiss in allowing the Bush Administration to run ruffshod over them and dolling out more leash than is acceptable to the American public with no oversight. War is a serious business and one that should only be entered into as a last result and only if there cannot be amicable resolve via diplomacy. The Bush Administration never intended to employ diplomacy. The people within the Bush Administration are mere puppets for Carl Rove and Dick Cheney who pulls their strings and call the shots in the name of the almighty lame duck Bush who sits cowering behind the screen much like the wizard in the Wizard of Oz. They have no heart, soul, nor spine without bullying tactics, lies, and distortions. Soon the curtain will be pulled back to reveal their incompetence to the world and then where will they hide?
I propose the following; create and communicate a timetable certain for our troops to exit Iraq-the sooner the better, provide the necessary funding and structure to keep that plan on track, allow the people of Iraq to determine who and how they want to be divided, rebuilt, and governed-the Kurds have already structured themselves as such and can serve as an example to the Sunni and Shia, communicate, negotiate, and plan strategically and tactically with all countries that border Iraq in order that they are able to secure their own borders which will keep peace within and hopefully terror out.
As you can see communicate is at or near the top of all of my suggestions for leaving Iraq. Without thoughtful and frequent communication even the best plans can become unattainable. Communication keeps all people organized and working from the same page. Communication keeps people abreast of any developing problems so that they can be mitigated prior to becoming unmanageable. Communication ensures that all people know the direction they are taking and how they fit into the larger scheme of things. Communication has been non-existent or absolutely remiss in the Bush Administrations approach to just about everything and as such destines them to failure.
Information needs to be shared, consistent, and understood between all levels of leadership and/or participants in all planning scenarios. Information should be current, honest, and credible. Reports need be distributed to all members/participants in the plan involved in the exit process at regular intervals so there is no problem keeping everyone up to date with their various roles and responsibilities. Hold frequent meetings and discussions. Do not exclude anyone from group discussions or decision making. Allow all participants a turn to speak freely about their concerns, problems, or potential risks. Take this time to reflect and redefine goals and objectives that can keep all participants moving in the same direction. A problem with the Bush Administration is that nobody can go against their plans without being fired or demoted and this sets a dangerous precedent for honest communication…fear.
Plans are set in motion in order that they might be accomplished. Plans set the direction and provide detail of what is to be done, done by whom, and what resources are necessary in order that the plan will be successful. Plans sometimes need to be partnered in order to effectively and efficiently bring about change. Peace brokers from outside of the Bush Administration need to be offered to help settle the various needs of participants in the Middle East region and smooth over the feathers ruffled by the Bush Administrations lack of diplomacy, dishonesty in offering no-bid contracts to friends of the Administration, and preemptive strikes on innocent nations. Our credibility on the world map is of consequence from these bold bullying tactics used by the Bush Administration without thought to consequence which has in effect left the remainder of the world to feel there is no team approach to problem solving, only actions and reactions made on a unilateral basis.
Exiting Iraq will mean that the United States participate in and take on some diplomatic responsibility for ensuring that all bordering countries in that region are satisfied with the proposed end result. Exiting means that we recognize that there is not a military solution to the host of problems the Bush Administrations invasion set in motion, but that solutions need be found from the inside looking out. The United States needs to let Iraq sort out the issues that are of import to them instead of telling them how they ought to do it. Let Iraq evolve into the Iraq that the people of Iraq are proud to be part of instead of a puppet state of the United States as Bush and his cronies would like to see.
To those who espouse that we are fighting terror over there so we do not have to fight it here I say who are you fooling? That is rubbish! If the United States knows that Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan then why do we wage war in Iraq? Tripe! I believe that the best way to thwart terror is to be offensive and that means we should secure our borders, ports, railways, and air terminals. Fighting terror will take a commitment and agreement between the United States and all of the world to intercept and share intelligence data, doing so means we need to communicate with the rest of the world and not isolate ourselves from them as the Bush Administration has done time and again. I say we can combat terror with peace, diplomacy, and cooperation around the globe! Give peace a chance!
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