Presidential Debates focus on Iraq
VCS is pleased to note that the debates this week heavily on the Iraq War. Though VCS, by law, is unable to endorse any candidate or political party, it's impossible to avoid the observation that the administration has been wrong on Iraq since day one, and continues to be wrong on Iraq.
Yesterday's report from the Iraq Survey Group clinches the case: after eighteen months of searching, after over one thousand coalition deaths and over ten thousand Iraqi deaths, the Presidentially appointed weapons inspectors have returned with their hands empty and the inescapable conclusion: not only did Iraq not have weapons of mass destruction, but their programs to create them were dismantled by inspections in the early 1990s. The New York Times suggested this week that National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice should have resigned as a result.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2161
The current administration continues to twist and turn on Iraq. After proposing a new provision that would allow the U.S. to "render" prisoners to countries that will torture them, the administration this week flip-flopped and denied supporting it. Unfortunately, the record is absolutely clear: the Bush administration believes it can detain individuals -- including American citizens -- indefinitely and secretly, without recourse to trial or legal representation, and if necessary abuse them ourselves or ship them to another country which will torture them on our behalf. We all believe we have to do what is necessary to prevent further terrorist attacks against the United States, but these steps undermine the very fabric of the Constitution we swore to protect.
That's why Veterans for Common Sense, with other organizations, is suing the administration to get to the bottom of their policies on civil liberties and human rights.
In another bizarre twist in an Iraq policy that seems to be imploding, former Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer publicly said this week that he had repeatedly told the administration that more troops were necessary in order to secure Iraq. The administration dodged the question, suggesting that the commanders on the ground never asked for more. Given the long-established U.S. doctrine of using overwhelming force, we find this statement difficult to believe.
The bottom line: leaving a failed state in the midst of a civil war in Iraq is bad for global security, disastrous for the Iraqi people, and dangerous for the United States. But as long as the U.S. continues to control every step, control every dollar, and refuse to involve Iraqis in more than token shows of sharing the load in combat, U.S. involvement in Iraq will continue to be a disaster. A good start would be to channel the billions in reconstruction money straight to Iraqi workers who can use it to rebuild their own country, create jobs, and reduce the incentives to join the insurgency. A speaker at a recent event with EPIC pointed out that in 1991, the Iraqis had the lights back on in Baghdad in six weeks. Today, basic services like electricity are even less available or reliable than they were right after the invasion.
Unfortunately, the Kerry campaign has not gone far enough in its plan for Iraq, although they do recognize there is a need for change. On the other hand, it's very clear that the administration refuses to own up to their mistakes and make the changes that are so obviously necessary. That just means more dead, more wounded, and more lives destroyed in a war that was never necessary in the first place.
Yesterday's report from the Iraq Survey Group clinches the case: after eighteen months of searching, after over one thousand coalition deaths and over ten thousand Iraqi deaths, the Presidentially appointed weapons inspectors have returned with their hands empty and the inescapable conclusion: not only did Iraq not have weapons of mass destruction, but their programs to create them were dismantled by inspections in the early 1990s. The New York Times suggested this week that National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice should have resigned as a result.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/NewsArticle.cfm?ID=2161
The current administration continues to twist and turn on Iraq. After proposing a new provision that would allow the U.S. to "render" prisoners to countries that will torture them, the administration this week flip-flopped and denied supporting it. Unfortunately, the record is absolutely clear: the Bush administration believes it can detain individuals -- including American citizens -- indefinitely and secretly, without recourse to trial or legal representation, and if necessary abuse them ourselves or ship them to another country which will torture them on our behalf. We all believe we have to do what is necessary to prevent further terrorist attacks against the United States, but these steps undermine the very fabric of the Constitution we swore to protect.
That's why Veterans for Common Sense, with other organizations, is suing the administration to get to the bottom of their policies on civil liberties and human rights.
In another bizarre twist in an Iraq policy that seems to be imploding, former Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer publicly said this week that he had repeatedly told the administration that more troops were necessary in order to secure Iraq. The administration dodged the question, suggesting that the commanders on the ground never asked for more. Given the long-established U.S. doctrine of using overwhelming force, we find this statement difficult to believe.
The bottom line: leaving a failed state in the midst of a civil war in Iraq is bad for global security, disastrous for the Iraqi people, and dangerous for the United States. But as long as the U.S. continues to control every step, control every dollar, and refuse to involve Iraqis in more than token shows of sharing the load in combat, U.S. involvement in Iraq will continue to be a disaster. A good start would be to channel the billions in reconstruction money straight to Iraqi workers who can use it to rebuild their own country, create jobs, and reduce the incentives to join the insurgency. A speaker at a recent event with EPIC pointed out that in 1991, the Iraqis had the lights back on in Baghdad in six weeks. Today, basic services like electricity are even less available or reliable than they were right after the invasion.
Unfortunately, the Kerry campaign has not gone far enough in its plan for Iraq, although they do recognize there is a need for change. On the other hand, it's very clear that the administration refuses to own up to their mistakes and make the changes that are so obviously necessary. That just means more dead, more wounded, and more lives destroyed in a war that was never necessary in the first place.
Starmail - 8. Okt, 18:02
