Jim Webb's diary :: ::
Frankly, we need to come up with the right formula for ending the Iraq War, and to get about the rest of our national business. This is in no way a knock on the men and women who have been serving there. In fact, it would be a way to validate their service by declaring an end point to the sacrifices we are asking of them.
I often hear officials from the administration say that the invasion of Iraq was the right strategic decision but that the occupation was bogged down by thousands of tactical errors. Anybody who can read between the lines realizes that this is an attempt to shift the blame from those who got us into the war, to those who had to carry out their policy. The fact is that our men and women in Iraq have done everything they've been asked to do. But they were led into Iraq by an Administration that has muddied the truth, made mistake after mistake, and refused to accept responsibility.
I believe it is our duty to question such policies. We went into Iraq precipitously; we have to get out carefully. I believe we can do this within 2 years without any further destabilization of the region.
What is owed to our veterans who return from the current conflict and try to establish civilian careers?
We owe these people at least the same as we have given veterans in other wars - readjustment assistance, veterans' loans, disability compensation, etc. Quite frankly, I believe we owe them even more, since such a small percentage of our society has been called upon to serve.
When I was working in as Committee Counsel in the United States Congress from 1977 to 1981, more than 2/3 of the Members had served in the military. Now only a small minority Senators and Member of Congress have served.
If I'm elected to the Senate, those who are serving and those who have served will have no stronger advocate.
If elected, one of the first bills that I will introduce will grant a permanent 5% tax break to all Americans who have completed a term of honorable military service. It is my belief that the frequent harshness of military service deserves a lifetime reward.
Your opponent, Harris Miller, has refused to give a straight answer to questions about his position on Iraq, opting instead for the convenient low-hanging political fruit of the moment - "Fire Donald Rumsfeld." Explain how firing the Secretary of Defense (which will not happen anyway) would not help the situation in Iraq right now one iota.
Harris has said that his early support of the war was due to the fact that he "believed Colin Powell." I'll leave him to answer the questions that follow from that approach. I would have voted against going into Iraq, and my speeches and writings from that period clearly illuminate why I would have done so.
I fully understand why Gen. Zinni and Gen. Newbold - who have both endorsed my candidacy - have focused on Secretary Rumsfeld. He is the highest ranking official who could be held accountable without an election.
But my view is that this entire administration did a deplorable job in planning and executing of the invasion of Iraq. I was saying this before and during the invasion. So whether it is Rumsfeld or a Rumsfeld clone, I don't see at this point how it would affect the approach of the administration.
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What do you propose to do (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:NearlyNormal
about the Iraqi government? Can we afford a one-day democracy like Cambodia had?
People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves than by those found by others.
by BlaiseP on Fri May 26, 2006 at 01:15:41 PM PDT
And tell me about the Right Formula (0+ / 0-)
to get us out of the beartrap of Iraq. Be careful, those whom the gods would destroy, they answer their prayers. Can we afford to have Iraq's government fail?
People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves than by those found by others.
by BlaiseP on Fri May 26, 2006 at 01:19:32 PM PDT
[ Parent ]
The Iraqi Government (19+ / 0-)
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These are the types of questions that should have been not only asked but DEBATED before we went into Iraq. I was asking them from the outside. I wrote the first piece in a major newspaper (Washington Post, Sept 2002) warning that the issue was not WMD but our troops turning into terrorist targets, and our people having to stay for 30 years.
The truth about the Iraqi government's formulation is that democracy cannot be forced upon a people from above, and particularly in a region that has never known democracy. Tribal loyalties still prevail strongly in Iraq, and there is little we will be able to do to change that.
The better question to ask is whether our presence is helping to end an insurgency, or feeding it.
My belief is that we should announce clearly that we have no long-term desires to occupy Iraq, and that we should bring nearby nations that have arguably been our allies into the diplomatic formula. I'm thinking specifically of Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.
by Jim Webb on Fri May 26, 2006 at 01:30:10 PM PDT
[ Parent ]