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We Need A Progressive Plan For Iraq |
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This is a call for progressive ideas about Iraq. It is time to stop waiting for Democratic leaders to propose their plans. Instead, it is time to start articulating our own.
I understand why the progressive blogosphere and leading Democrats have been reluctant to put forward holistic plans for transitioning out of Iraq. Devising any plan for the current conflict is fraught with complexity and peril. We’ve all seen how failure after failure has taken a toll on the Bush presidency. These failures will likely haunt Republicans for years to come. For Democrats and progressives to come out with a well developed idea of their own, while trying to convince the country they are fit to lead, and open themselves up to the same failures is a political risk few are willing to hazard.
Yet, it is imperative that we do put forward plans. We can’t let Bush impale himself on his own sword, confident that when we take back power in November 2008 we will set things right again. There is frustration right now over Congress’s inability to simply defund the war. Many believe that we still need to sell the basic “get out of Iraq” message. However, while we continue the defunding and anti-war efforts, we need to be talking about future plans. We need to convince America that we are ready to lead. When we say we want out of Iraq immediately, we need a good answer to the inevitable conservative question, “Then what?”
So far, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of discussion about what the progressive answer to that question should be. Progressive bloggers and activists are often content to let the Democratic candidates and party officials grudgingly reveal their plans. Why not take control? Instead of waiting for the party to come up with plans, and complaining when it doesn’t or those plans are found wanting, progressives should propose and discuss plans for Iraq themselves. This is, after all, what the netroots movement is all about.
Many believe that no action on Iraq will be taken before January 2009. While this may or may not be true, progressives need to talk about solutions now. By looking towards the future, we will prove to the country at large that Democrats, and more specifically progressive Democrats, are truly ready to lead.
In talking about plans for Iraq, we need to avoid the traps that have ensnared conservatives. Progressives shouldn’t put forward just another military strategy, as conservatives have done time and time again. It has become clear that this is short term thinking. Nor should we define our political goals based on Iraqi military or political benchmarks. The “when they stand up, we’ll stand down” rhetoric of the current administration is a recipe for inaction and quagmire.
Instead, we need to look at the entire regional picture and agree on some basic ground rules to make sure any plans hew to progressive views. If any plan fully takes into account the following four assertions, it will be a plan worth talking about and possibly supporting. The assertions:
- The Iraq War was a mistake.
The U.S. made a mistake by invading Iraq. It was the wrong war against the wrong country at the wrong time, justified under false pretenses. In any plan, this mistake will have to be acknowledged to build up American credibility with the international community, Arab nations, and the Iraqis themselves. Not acknowledging this mistake is a moral failure.
- Our presence in Iraq is making things worse, not better. Our lack of credibility in Iraq is such that the very presence of American troops is destabilizing the situation on the ground. We are targets for violent insurgent groups and scapegoats for international war critics. Our presence de-incentivizes political and military factions in Iraq from ever compromising or fully taking control. We need more than just a change in military strategy. We need to leave Iraq now.
- Iraq is a political problem, and it requires a political solution.
Progress in Iraq is not a simple military question of how many troops need to be deployed or where they should be concentrated. Any progressive plan needs to be grounded in political solutions. Do not confuse a political solution with the “when they stand up, we’ll stand down” idea. A political solution will be one dealing with the U.S. and the international community, with or without Iraq’s help, with the goal of removing direct U.S. involvement in Iraq and extricating our troops from the current situation.
- Our goal in Iraq should not be to “win,” but to leave responsibly.
Any plan for Iraq should have at its heart the goal of extricating our troops from the current situation as quickly and safely as possible. We are not out to “win” in Iraq, as winning is impossible without clearly defined goals. Instead, we simply seek to remove ourselves from the situation in a responsible way. This means that solutions won’t myopically focus on improving the Iraqi political or military process, but instead look at how to hand over responsibility to regional or international powers.
Any plan that builds from these four assertions will conform to the basic progressive view about the realities of the situation in Iraq. Any plan that fails to adequately address these assertions isn’t worth talking about. While it is vital to discuss the specifics of troop reductions and withdrawal timelines, even a plan that promises drastic reductions in troop numbers and a speedy withdrawal may not be satisfactory if it fails to address the larger context.
I’m not claiming I have found a good solution yet. Perhaps that solution will be to implement the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations (pdf). Perhaps handing over military and political power to an international or Arab coalition is the right plan. Perhaps partition is the way to go. No matter what plan or plans progressives eventually support, they need to take into account the core agenda laid out above and more importantly, discuss all plans openly.
I ask you to put your minds to it and start talking. Write a post, diary, or comment somewhere to put forward your views. Once you’ve done that, email me at seminal@theseminal.com with a link. I’ll be collecting progressive plans for Iraq and linking to or publishing them here and elsewhere.
The progressive movement is not about our elected officials. It is about us. Plans for Iraq can start with us too. There is no reason that progressives can’t come up with an answer to the “then what” question. I believe that if progressives start coming up with ideas, we can convince America to let us implement them.
Senator Biden is the only man who managed to come up with a realistic reading to the current condition in Iraq. He is the man who did his homework and read some history books about the disastrous method the Brits used to create the modern state of Iraq! His plan is admired by both Democrats and Republicans and it might bring all Americans together when it comes to the war in Iraq.
Some might argue that the war lacks justifications from the get go but we should never forget that helping the people of Iraq to get rid of a criminal dictator is not a mistake. Most Democrats voted to support the war because they knew that it will lead to the destruction of a dictatorial regime. The biggest mistake in this war is the failure to have a real plan for the post-war Iraq.
To know more about Senator Biden’s plan, check out the website http://www.planforiraq.com
It’s not too late to do something about this war… let’s try something different!
This is a great way to bring the discussion to a head! I’d like to see the comment fields here build atop the “Three State - One Iraq” concept we were working on previously. Whatever legislative and diplomatic solutions we find must aim to prevent the impending civil war that comes when we withdraw while founding a functional and defensible government. I think the three state concept was coming along well to these ends; with voices from both aisles contributing and agreeing on many points.
The internal partitioning of Iraq into three states gives the Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd a chunk of individual power that should reasonably sate all but the most extreme among them. It also creates an intellectual separation between the Federal government, which America has installed and which therefore many Iraqi’s place little trust and take even less pride in, and their local state. That helps create passion on the ground and encourages the citizenry to get involved and take a vested interest in how their local state governments form and are operated.
We’ve already conceded that Iraq’s federal government must set in place, and have the authority to uphold, basic human rights standards including freedom from religious persecution within all it’s states. Also, I believe we concluded that state militias must be outlawed, lest the three states enter into a cold-war stand-off ending in that same civil war we mean to avoid; weakening their defences against neighboring oil-hungry nations. Lastly, we decided there is need, of course, for an agreeable oil-profit sharing program that all vested interests can accept.
I’d like to see these ideas continue to build, and that a dialogue begin on the most difficult part of these and any plans for Iraq: Actual implementation. How can America’s military, political, and diplomatic arms help create support among the Iraqi government and it’s peoples to these ends?
I’m not saying that we can prevent all things bad from coming to Iraq. The people themselves may demand a civil war before this is over. But we should do what we can to breed hope before we pull out entirely. For what we have done in starting this war we must accept a responsibility to do what we can toward mending the social fabrics torn; and to do so as expediently as possible that we might bring our military assets home.
What do you think?
The saddest part is that U.S. politicians (Republicans and Democrats) complain about national reconciliation in Iraq as if this process could be done in a one week! Senator Biden put it in plain English: the reconciliation thing is not gonna happen and the U.S. officials need to get over it. We can leave the country to be swallowed by the neighbors and internal conflicts or we can help creating a federation of three states that feel comfortable dealing with the Americans individually. Look at Kurdistan… people there rule themselves and focus on rebuilding their country because there’s no conflict over power! Shiite and Kurds will never trust the Sunnis and Sunnis will always consider themselves the true leaders of Iraq and the true Iraq and they will never get along with other Iraqi ethnic groups… Iraq’s unity is an abusive marriage that needs to be ended immediately.
I do like that Biden is proposing a plan, but I have major problems with it. Mostly because it conforms to almost none of the points stated above.
One, it doesn’t admit any mistakes. Going along with that, it relies on mainly the US and the Iraqis to impose this partitioning. That’s not realistic. Our credibility is shot in the country and in the region, so we are in no position to impose this kind of idea. It flaunts my third point, despite what Biden says, because it relies heavily on the Iraqis to stand up and implement this solution while assuming (falsely I believe) that it is in all three groups’ interests to partition. I don’t think the Shiite majority is willing to give up power, and I don’t think Kurds will settle for a simply federalized system. Either way, it is relying on Iraqis to come to a political agreement, which is essentially what we have now.
It does throw out the concept of winning, which is a great step. And as I said above, it is good because it is a plan, which is more than other Democratic leadership or presidential candidates have given. Biden should be given credit for that. But is it a progressive plan? Is it something I fully support? Unfortunately, no.
Asking the international community to get involved in an American-made mess is not smart whatsoever. They just won’t do it. Why should they? It was an American action and the Americans need to stand up and deal with the results of their actions or they can just leave. Can they leave? I don’t think so!
Senator Biden’s plan is an attempt to get something positive out of this war. This is not wrong and he tries to reach all Americans with all different political and social backgrounds. I would love to hear another plan that would actually make a difference. If someone has one, it’s time to suggest it.
I don’t dispute that Biden’s plan is an attempt. And I commend him for it, as it is really the only one out there at this point.
However, it’s still not something I support.
That, too, is short term thinking. America has a lot of bargaining chips it can still play. It will require some sacrifices on our part to get what we want, but at this point, Iraq is so much of a mess that it is worth it. It will require we admit we were wrong and made a mistake. It may require we do things like make major concessions to the Palestinians, or allow Iran to have some kind of nuclear energy program, or remove some of our military bases from Muslim lands. It will probably require that we pay for it even if we don’t participate militarily. I don’t know exactly what it will require, but saying that the international community just won’t help us is silly because a) the US still has a lot to offer other countries, and b) it hasn’t really been tried yet, so we don’t know.
To reiterate, Biden’s plan is a good start, and I’m glad he’s thinking beyond the occupation and towards the future. But it should be just the beginning. There is no reason to settle for it just because it is the only game in town right now.
It seems some kind of partitioning will have to take place, whether that’s within the context of a larger federal structure or no. Yet the main difficulty - and the main source of doubt for a lot of people - seems to lie in getting the Sunnis and the Shi’a to get along. Two points may help with that:
1. Create an independent Kurdistan. Get them out of the mix and simplify things that way. Plus the Kurds have suffered enough. Figure out a way to have Turkey accept it, and let the Kurds go their separate way.
2. Improve material conditions in Iraq. If the Sunnis and Shi’a got along once, maybe they can again. Put everybody to work, like the New Deal on super-steroids meets Marshall Plan, and maybe in the blitz of bridge- and hospital-building tensions will start to die down.
These are just ideas - Lord knows I don’t have any definitive solutions.
this is all a bunch of crap all anyone says is they know what to do,but never do anything to back it up.They are all scared to be free thinkers.They say they are but they are not.They are all to busy trying not to offend everyone,but that is impossible to do.Why not grow some balls and do what you say your going to do
@comicsgazillions
We’re looking for real ideas. Got one?
I’ve got an idea: let’s invade Grenada again and just forget all about this Iraq debacle. Really, the only problem with Iraq is that the reporting on the war contains some truth. If we could just be shown pictures of little Iraqi girls and boys eating scrumptious pastries then I think the US left would feel a lot better about the whole situation.
See, you are all focusing on changing the reality in Iraq, which just seems to me like a major chore. It would be much easier to simply change the reality in our own heads.
Now THAT is what I call a “progressive” idea.
Nice post. This is an important discussion. I’m pretty sure September is going to be another frustrating month of capitulation, but I think the aftermath of that we should see the Congressional Dems looking to regroup, which might finally provide an opportunity to get more of them to listen.
Too few Democratic pols are providing real plans, although in addition to Biden I would mention Earl Blumenauer (HR 663), Sheila Jackson-Lee (HR 930) and David Price (HR 645). A number of left-leaning scholars have some good ideas, including the Center for American Progress’ Brian Katulis (”Strategic Reset”), CSIS’ Zbigniew Brzezinski and the International Crisis Group.
Ending the occupation is only part of the issue. The Dems need to show the same concern for how to stabilize Iraq. This is both a humanitarian issue because of the appalling numbers of killings and a national security issue because we really need to generate some good will in Iraq if we don’t want to create a future generation of terrorists.
Whoever becomes America’s next representative to the world had better be a poet and a scholar. The holes dug on our behalf are now so deep, their repair will likely take decades. For this we will need a man whose words alone can stay us through the reconstruction; whose sincerity and compassion might show the world a different neighbor than they’ve known in America.
There is no legislative or diplomatic measure that could equal the need for this. If Iraq finds peace it will be not by action but by words. Where’s John and Bobby Kennedy when you need them? Where’s Martin Luther King?
Oh yeah… We fuckin’ killed ‘em.