Kerry, at least, has a serious Iraq plan
By Bradford Plumer
Compare and contrast. John Kerry's plan for Iraq, as outlined today:
First, the president has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don't have to go it alone... Second, the president must get serious about training Iraqi security forces... Third, the president must carry out a reconstruction plan that finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people... Fourth, the president must take immediate, urgent, essential steps to guarantee that the promised election can be held next year.
And here, apparently, is Donald Rumsfeld's plan:
At some point the Iraqis will get tired of getting killed and we'll have enough of the Iraqi security forces that they can take over responsibility for governing that country and we'll be able to pare down the coalition security forces in the country.
Unfair? Sure. But so is this notion that it's Kerry who needs a detailed plan for Iraq, when the sitting president himself has no idea what to do. As Media Matters noted, not a single reporter has asked Bush what, exactly, his "stay the course" policy consists of. Somehow Iraq has become the monkey on Kerry's back, not Bush's.
But you can only go so far complaining about media incompetence, and to his credit, John Kerry gave perhaps the best speech of his campaign today. Many of his ideas on Iraq have a lot to recommend them -- like shifting reconstruction over to Iraqi contractors, and convening an immediate global summit. But more than offering a grab bag of snazzy ideas, Kerry showed that he can look clearly and honestly at the situation in Iraq -- while trying to be as bright and sunny as humanly possible. Because Iraq is at least as bleak as Kerry claims. At this point, as this latest CSIS report makes clear, the best we can hope for in Iraq is probably a continuation of the low-level instability going on now. The worst, of course, is a civil war that spreads into a larger regional conflict, sucking in Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. When Kerry says that elections "are not going to be easy," he's being too optimistic by half. Still, in the event that things get even worse, we want someone competent and capable in charge. John Kerry certainly showed today that he was ready to be that person.
By Bradford Plumer
Compare and contrast. John Kerry's plan for Iraq, as outlined today:
First, the president has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don't have to go it alone... Second, the president must get serious about training Iraqi security forces... Third, the president must carry out a reconstruction plan that finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people... Fourth, the president must take immediate, urgent, essential steps to guarantee that the promised election can be held next year.
And here, apparently, is Donald Rumsfeld's plan:
At some point the Iraqis will get tired of getting killed and we'll have enough of the Iraqi security forces that they can take over responsibility for governing that country and we'll be able to pare down the coalition security forces in the country.
Unfair? Sure. But so is this notion that it's Kerry who needs a detailed plan for Iraq, when the sitting president himself has no idea what to do. As Media Matters noted, not a single reporter has asked Bush what, exactly, his "stay the course" policy consists of. Somehow Iraq has become the monkey on Kerry's back, not Bush's.
But you can only go so far complaining about media incompetence, and to his credit, John Kerry gave perhaps the best speech of his campaign today. Many of his ideas on Iraq have a lot to recommend them -- like shifting reconstruction over to Iraqi contractors, and convening an immediate global summit. But more than offering a grab bag of snazzy ideas, Kerry showed that he can look clearly and honestly at the situation in Iraq -- while trying to be as bright and sunny as humanly possible. Because Iraq is at least as bleak as Kerry claims. At this point, as this latest CSIS report makes clear, the best we can hope for in Iraq is probably a continuation of the low-level instability going on now. The worst, of course, is a civil war that spreads into a larger regional conflict, sucking in Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. When Kerry says that elections "are not going to be easy," he's being too optimistic by half. Still, in the event that things get even worse, we want someone competent and capable in charge. John Kerry certainly showed today that he was ready to be that person.
posted by BLONDIE at 1:47 PM
1 Comments:
I like your comments and sensibility. Choices have to be made, and with one choice Bush, most outside of the inner circle of the Third Reich would be just fine. But Kerry is much better than just a possible choice. He is smart.
My guess (optimism from The Pessimist?) is that a short time in he will find a way to begin to disengage rather than to commit yet another generation to the madness of war in a place we have no reason to be and in a war whose outcome can not be a good one. (I have noted you as a link at www.ThePessmist.com )
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