The politics of withdrawal

Thursday June 15th 2006, 3:01 pm - list your home for rent for free

During the 2004 election, then-presidential challenger John Kerry said he would keep the troops in Iraq for the foreseeable future. Recently, Kerry stepped up and backed up some of his colleagues’ call for bringing American troops out of Iraq.

Kerry’s arguement is in a bad position right now. Zarqawi’s death has certainly make the Iraq streets less murderous, John Burn of the Times told Charlie Rose last night. This might be a small sign of positive progress. Having come this far, should the US not willing to see through the foreseeable end?

What Kerry and his colleagues should bring to the debate table are incremental goals to achieve the withdrawal. Constructive criticism win long-term political points. Scoring cheap, red-meat soundbites will only provide short-term gain.

Kerry and his colleagues should layout reasonable objectives and reasonable dates. For instance, Notebook would like to see the US meet certain level of security by certain date. How about securing a specific town within the next 3 months? Then another town 3 months after that?

Victory in Iraq would prompt the return of the troops, but at the same time repair some of the damages that US caused by going in. Kerry voted for the war. His vote partially got the country into war. The oil addiction is here to stay and will stay for another decade or two. No doubt the US will get off this addiction, but it cannot happen overnight. The oil Iraq provide for the near future will cushion thethe US economy and eventually the global economy.

Success in Iraq will also trigger some pressure on Iran. The US’s credibility right now rises and sinks with the events in Baghdad. A lot of money already invested, a lot of political chips already spent, staying just a bit longer might prove rewarding in multitude.

Notebook realizes that the Republican is not doing very well at the moment. But if the Democratic party want to fully capture the House and Senate, it must act like a reponsible party and not renegades with splinter cells. John Kerry wants to run in 2008, fine, but until his announcement for the rematch, his constituents deserve a senator looking out for them and not to his future plan.