Democracy Arsenal

« Is Marwan Barghouti a Palestinian Ariel Sharon? | Main | Required Reading »

November 29, 2005

Another Bush Speech
Posted by Derek Chollet

Another week, another curtain-raiser for one more “major” Bush speech on Iraq.  So far these speeches have fallen relatively flat -- doing little more than fuel the partisan war in Washington – and have not foreshadowed any new policies. 

But tomorrow’s speech at Annapolis seems to be different – and will be the most important speech Bush has given on Iraq since the debate exploded last June, when the President had to scramble to the prime-time airwaves to steady his course.

As the LA Times first reported over the weekend (and the Wall Street Journal writes today), tomorrow’s speech will be the beginning of the pivot on Iraq – laying the groundwork for a gradual troop withdrawal starting next year.  Bush will apparently praise the training of Iraqi troops, talk about the progress they’ve made, and move beyond his standard “as they stand up we’ll stand down” rhetoric, giving a little more detail to convince people that he really means it.

There are a lot of thoughtful folks who have already outlined what we should be listening for tomorrow (not on the politics, but on the policy), and their questions are worth pondering.  They challenge the Administration, but since they raise questions that all of us who are trying to find a responsible way forward in Iraq are trying to answer, they also challenge us.

For example, CAP’s Brian Katulis (co-architect of the influential “strategic redeployment” strategy that has driven a lot of the debate about what to do within progressive circles) raises important questions that will certainly help poke holes in what Bush says: Are his troop training numbers credible?  How many Iraqis that we say are trained actually work for militias, not the state?  Are we failing to give the Iraqis we are training the equipment they need?  If what we’re doing is working, then why isn’t the insurgency getting smaller?   

But perhaps more important are the questions on Fred Kaplan’s mind, which go to the larger strategic plans (and risks) of a Bush withdrawal:

“How does he plan to do it? Which troops will come out first? How quickly? Where will they go? Under what circumstances will they be put back in? Which troops will remain, and what will they do? How will they keep a profile low enough to make the Iraqi government seem genuinely autonomous yet high enough to help deter or stave off internal threats? Who will keep the borders secure, a task for which the Iraqi army doesn't even pretend to have the slightest capability? What kinds of diplomatic arrangements will he make with Iraq's neighbors—who have their own conflicting interests in the country's future—to assure an international peace?

“More to the point, does the president have a plan for all this? (The point is far from facetious; it's tragically clear, after all, that he didn't have a plan for how to fight the war if it extended beyond the collapse of Saddam.) Has he entertained these questions, much less devised some shrewd answers? If he's serious about a withdrawal or redeployment that's strategically sensible, as opposed to politically opportune, we should hear about them in his speech Wednesday night.”

Let’s hope so.  But don’t hold your breath.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c04d69e200d83523168553ef

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Another Bush Speech:

Comments

TrackBack URL for this entry:

Labels printed by China printing is very good quality and good prices.
Plastic products made by plastic injection molding services with low costs and supeior quality
Shoring scaffolding for construction is a very useful tool.

Thank you for your sharing.! seslichat seslisohbet

Thank you for your sharing! I like i very much!

thanks for sharing Sohbet many people are pay more attention to one's wearing than before, especially a watch.Chat.
Perhaps when you went to some place far away Sohbet you must borrow it from friends Chat you can get everything you want in this game
Sohbet money to invest in other industry which will return you good profit. Chat when you look at the surface of the watches
Exsohbet from the city you live in and thought you knew nobody there Egitim Fourth, there were various signs of political conflict among shia. Sohbet If they split 3 ways or 4 ways, the sunnis and the kurds could often be the swing votes in the politics. Sohbet If they felt they had political clout out of proportion to their numbers, they could settle in and do politics and not feel oppressed.

wow, this Bostancı Halı Yıkama is the first time that I've heard your actual Acıbadem Halı Yıkama due date - June 2nd is my birthday! Halı Yıkama Türkiye It's a good Kadıköy Halı Yıkama birthday - summer birthday parties, Erenköy Halı Yıkama halfway til Ataşehir Halı Yıkama christmas (so new toys every 6 months), and being a gemini is fun! The only downside is being Çamlıca Halı Yıkama younger Acıbadem Halı Yıkama than most of the other kids in your grade (longer wait to get a Üsküdar Halı Yıkama driver's license, legally get into bars, etc). I hope your baby ends up sharing Bostancı Temizlik a birthday with me!

Thank you for your sharing! I like i very much!

Very interesting material you have on the site. It is not very often I can find content like yours you have on the site. I like it!

Thank you for your sharing! I like i very much!

The comments to this entry are closed.

Subscribe
Sign-up to receive a weekly digest of the latest posts from Democracy Arsenal.
Email: 
Powered by TypePad

Disclaimer

The opinions voiced on Democracy Arsenal are those of the individual authors and do not represent the views of any other organization or institution with which any author may be affiliated.
Read Terms of Use
<