From the New York Daily News:
On Oct. 11, 2002, the Senate gave President Bush authority to use force against Iraq. Nearly five years later, it is time for Congress to say enough is enough.
The American people have waited long enough for progress in Iraq. They have waited long enough for the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. Today, more than 150,000 members of our armed forces are caught in a civil war. According to the Pentagon, overall levels of violence in Iraq have not decreased since the surge began. The last three months have been the deadliest period for American troops since the start of the war. It is time for the waiting to end and for our troops to start to come home.
That is why we propose to end the authorization for the war in Iraq. The civil war we have on our hands in Iraq is not our fight and it is not the fight Congress authorized. Iraq is at war with itself and American troops are caught in the middle.
We sure are, and it’s a fight we simply can’t win. Using the justification that us leaving would be disastrous to stay indefinitely is specious and silly. We’re in the middle of a bunch of savages killing each other in front of people too lazy to protect themselves because, well, we’ll do it for them!
And don’t get all pissy with me for calling the psychos who blow themselves up at a market killing 100 people savages. If you don’t think they’re savages you’re just as fucked up as they are.
At a recent Senate hearing, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked if the 2002 authorization still applies to Iraq. His response was surprisingly candid: “I don’t know.” Four years into the conflict in Iraq, longer than American involvement in World War II, after years of White House misjudgment and miscalculation, as our troops fight and die in the midst of an Iraqi civil war, the answer could not be clearer.
Whether you agree with the war (I do) or not, you cannot argue that this war has been managed correctly. We’re stuck, with no exit plan, in a country where the people can’t seem to handle freedom and instead take to blowing each other up because they think Allah should be spelled differently. You’ll pardon my callousness, but these are not people I care to send any more Americans to Arlington Cemetery over.
The 2008 defense authorization bill is now before the U.S. Senate. This legislation presents a vital opportunity for Congress to step up and force the President to change course in Iraq. Amending the bill to deauthorize the war would do exactly that. We intend to lead that effort.
If the Bush administration believes that the current war, as it is being executed, is critical to America’s future, then it should make the case and let the people decide. Explain to the public why our young men and women should be sent into the middle of a fight between religious factions. Explain why we should continue to devote $10 billion each month to this fight.
Again, whether or not you agree with the war, this is a pretty common-sense point. If the war is critical, sell it to the american people. 4 years later, give us some hard verifiable facts that show we aren’t just throwing money into a blackhole we can never escape from. Hell, if the President hits the mics the way he did for the shamnesty bill a few weeks ago, we’ll get a much better picture of what’s going on and what the game plan is. Instead, we get the “don’t worry, it’s working” bullshit we’ve been hearing.
It’s no surprise that immigration stole the headlines for a few weeks, and now the fairness doctrine is threatening to do the same. In the midst of a war, we seem to find the President and the supporters of the war in Congress picking other fights instead of winning the one we’re in.
It’s unacceptable and it’s an affront to the men and women serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Prior to the vote on the original authorization of force in 2002, we worked to limit that authority to one year. Unfortunately, the amendment failed — a fact rendered all the more distressing in hindsight.
You both didn’t work hard enough, Senators. End of story.
By deauthorizing the original use-of-force resolution this year, we would put a stop to the President’s failed strategy and require him to articulate a new policy that takes into account the desires of the American people, the reality in Iraq and the recommendations of military experts.
The American people deserve to know how the President intends to judge the results of our ongoing efforts in Iraq and what strategy he proposes to bring the occupation to an end.
That sentence in boldface is, quite simply, what the American people are hungering for right now. What constitutes a victory in Iraq? At what point can we safely pull out, or are we at the point now where any questioning of when we’re pulling out becomes an argument over how anyone saying we aren’t going to win in a civil war / pissing contest between Shi’a and Sunnis is somehow defeatist?
Let’s see the game plan. What’s the measuring stick? What tangible measurements are we going to make of the Iraqi government and security forces that will allow us to say they’re ready for us to leave? I find it hard to believe that this plan has even been discussed in Washington.
We don’t need all the details, but how about starting by showing us there is a plan to begin with. I’d be happy with just that little.
Our men and women in uniform toppled the dictator. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Iraq has established a parliament and elected a president and a prime minister. Yet our troops remain in Iraq and our President remains unmoved by any arguments to change course.
Not bad for a guy who’s never been about “change the course.”
As Bush admitted in his State of the Union address in January, “This is not the fight we entered in Iraq.” We could not agree more. This is not the fight Congress authorized, Mr. President. If you want to continue to wage this fight, come to Congress and make your case. Otherwise, bring our troops home.
Well said.
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