Senator Kerry On the War in Iraq

Stalemate in formation of Iraq government -
Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) has been calling for action from the U.S. government to move the stalled process forward. On April 5, 2006 Senator Kerry wrote this Op-ed in the New York Times. He followed up with the introduction of a formal Resolution in the Senate with a plan for getting the Iraqi leaders off dead center. The plan has solid logic and some detail, and should get further consideration. Read his own blogpost (4/5/06) regarding his plan at The Huffington Post. It has gotten 130 comments as of this moment.

Here's some of the buzz on the web about Senator John Kerry's proposals regarding Iraq.

• The Boston Globe says,

  But some Democrats received Kerry's proposal more warmly. Former senator Gary Hart of Colorado posted an entry at huffingtonpost.com praising Kerry for his ''courage" and calling on other Democrats to weigh in on the matter. Senator Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who is considering a 2008 presidential run, also endorsed Kerry's proposal.

• georgia 10 at DailyKos posts on April 6 about the situation in Iraq and Kerry's proposal for withdrawal. To quote,

  "Senator Kerry is right. Every day of delay in the political process is another
  day our soldiers are targets in Iraq. President Bush's policy of "as the Iraqis
  step up, we will step down" only works if the Iraqis actually step up. This is
  an extremely complicated situation, but Kerry is correct in observing that the
  Iraqi leadership has only responded to deadlines thus far. Let us give them the
  ultimatum, for the good of their people, and for the safety of our soldiers as
  well."

• Pamela at TPM Cafe posted on 12/9/05 about a plan for withdrawal of troops by the end of 2006. To quote a comment,

  On December 9, 2005 - 10:23am Bob Bobstein said: troop withdrawal should be linked to a timetable “that is set by a series of benchmarks of accomplishment.” A great idea. Show the intention to get out, without leaving precipitously. For a split second, I thought the administration's Plan For Victory(TM) was going to do this, but then it turned out to link to Pentagon PR sites for examples of successes.

• Here is a quote from Pamela Leavey at The Democratic Daily did an extensive post on Senator Kerry's plan:

  We are in the third war in Iraq in years. The first war was against Saddam Hussein and his alleged weapons of mass destruction. The second war was against Jihadist terrorists. Now American troops in the middle of an escalating civil war.
  “Staying the course,” the Bush plan for Iraq, is a foolish and immoral option. “Half the names on the Vietnam wall were added after America’s leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion,” said Kerry in the NY Times. It’s time for Iraq to get it together, it’s time for the Bush administration to get it together. John Kerry is right!

It is rather sad to me that Senator Kerry's resolution has not gotten more attention. It was offered right in the middle of the immigration reform debate in the Senate, which is only part of the explanation, however. I am guessing that there is much more politics about Kerry's proposal within the Democratic party that will emerge over time.
Tags: John Kerry War in Iraq Democrats politics Senate
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about celebrity.