South by Southwest: Whose "redeployment" idea counts?

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Whose "redeployment" idea counts?

John Murtha started something really important late last year. And he has not received the credit he deserves. The Washington Post reported in November that Representative Murtha called for the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. To quote the 11/18/05 article,

The top House Democrat on military spending matters stunned colleagues yesterday by calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, while many congressional Democrats reacted defiantly to President Bush's latest attack on his critics.
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said many of those troops are demoralized and poorly equipped and, after more than two years of war, are impeding Iraq's progress toward stability and self-governance.
"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," Murtha said in a Capitol news conference that left him in tears. Islamic insurgents "are united against U.S. forces, and we have become a catalyst for violence," he said. ". . . It's time to bring them home."
Murtha's action, coupled with stinging rhetoric from the White House, was the catalyst for a remarkable outpouring of rage on Capitol Hill about Iraqi war policy, an issue that for months was relatively dormant but now is dominating congressional debate.

Me! Me! Me!
It is funny to see our leaders today argue over which one of the plans (for cutting back on the number of troops in Iraq) will be the official plan that can be considered. On the table so far are these:
General Casey's plan is for reductions next year. To quote Reuters,

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that
projects steep reductions in the U.S. military presence there by the end of 2007, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Citing U.S. officials with knowledge of a classified Pentagon briefing this week by Gen. George Casey, the Times said the first cuts would come in September, and the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq is then projected to fall to five or six from the current level of 14 by the end of next year.
The withdrawals are greater than many experts and analysts had expected, the Times said on its Web site in a story to be published in its Sunday edition. The officials spoke of the Pentagon briefing on condition of anonymity, and some described the plan as more of a forecast than a hard timeline.

Howard Dean says Republicans don't have a plan, according to Reuters,

The United States should begin pulling troops out of Iraq this year, the head of the Democratic Party said on Saturday as he accused Republicans of lacking a plan to move forward after more than three years of violence.
"The Republicans don't have a plan," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said in his party's weekly radio address. "'Stay the course' is not a plan. Saying the problems in Iraq will be left to the next president, is not a plan. "

Democrats in the Senate presented two plans last week. Both failed. To quote from a New York Times article,

The Senate on Thursday roundly rejected two Democratic proposals to begin
pulling troops out of Iraq, as Republicans and Democrats staked out starkly different positions heading into Congressional elections this fall.
The more far-reaching measure, calling for all United States combat troops to be
withdrawn within a year, failed 86 to 13, with no Republican supporters.
An alternative, backed by the Democratic leadership and calling for troop withdrawals to begin by the end of the year without setting a deadline for complete withdrawal, was also defeated, 60 to 39, with one Republican voting with the Democrats and six Democrats joining the Republican majority.
With a Republican-controlled Senate, Democrats had expected the loss, but even in
defeat, they declared themselves on the same side as the majority of Americans.
"The Republicans stand alone that there should be no plan and no end in Iraq," said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader. "They want an open-ended commitment, and the American people and the Senate Democrats cannot agree to an open-ended commitment."

Senate Republicans rejected all the Democrats' plans, according to the NYT,

The Senate on Thursday roundly rejected two Democratic proposals to begin pulling troops out of Iraq, as Republican and Democrats staked out starkly different positions heading into Congressional elections this fall.

A majority of the American public wants Congress to adopt a withdrawal plan, according to the USA Today's article. Quote,

A majority of Americans say Congress should pass a resolution that outlines a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday. Half of those surveyed would like all U.S. forces out within 12 months.
The poll finds support for the ideas behind Democratic proposals that were soundly defeated in the Senate last week. An uptick in optimism toward the war after the killing of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi earlier this month seems to have evaporated.

OCP (our current president) won't exactly say what his plan is. And it seems that his will be the only plan that counts. According to CNN,

Responding to a reporter's question about the Times' report, Bush said, "In terms of our presence there, that decision will be made by General Casey as well as the sovereign government of Iraq based upon conditions on the ground."
Bush said Casey's recommendation would strive for victory, which the president defined as "a free government that is able to sustain itself, defend itself" and that "will be an ally in the war on terror."
Bush was tight-lipped about his meeting with Casey on Friday. The president said only that the two discussed a joint operation with the Iraqi forces to stabilize Baghdad, actions they are taking to secure Ramadi, west of the capital, and the
training of Iraqi forces.
He added that once the "Iraqis stand up the coalition will be able to stand down."

Josh Marshall ironically summarizes the administration's problem here:

Against a phased withdrawal before they were for it.
They can't keep their story straight because they don't have any plan or sense what they're doing.
Who can trust them to get it right after they've gotten it wrong so many times?