Election Strategy: Blame the Liberals, Then Blame the Iraqis Posted by Lorelei Kelly

Ah, our limping democracy. Despite the plaudits that House leadership  is getting for just doing its job, a truly awful Iraq war resolution will be "debated" in Congress on Thursday (in quotes because, as usual, the rule for debate is so restrictive that someone should roll a laugh track over the PA system throughout).  If only every Member of Congress had to watch the film "The War Tapes" before heading to the House floor.  This movie was filmed by a dozen National Guard soldiers in spring, 2004, just as the insurgency roiled. They carried digital video cameras. What they captured, coupled with their own interview-style narrative, left a searing impression of our soldiers' courage versus our civilian leadership's photo-op blabber. For more info on Iraq films see Show Us the War.

I saw this film it at the progressive-mecca Take Back America conference here in DC this week. I also met some very cool women national security bloggers: Fire Dog Lake and Taylor Marsh to name two.

The House Resolution (posted in full at the end) is a chest-thumpy piece of work, with no discernable problem solving recommendations, but lots of opportunities to slam critics. Its language equates the war in Iraq with operations in Afghanistan, and by labeling Saddam Hussein as a threat against global peace and security, the resolution seeks to retroactively justify the war.  In fact, Majority Leader Boehner wrote a memo (leaked) detailing the political usefulness of returning to that tried and true old trope "kill them over there so they don't get us over here". Despite the manacles on participation,

there should be a quality rumpus on the floor (led by a sizeable faction of House Democrats who are tired of being sworn to talking point gimmees like Health, Education and 90K stuffed in the freezer...oops, I mean "culture of corruption").

Why is Congress engaging in this oh so 2003 posturing?Even the president is acknowledging the need for new, more humble directions in US foreign policy. But the lure of politics over policy is proves too strong.  His henchman Rove still scorches the Earth with hateful rhetorical firecrackers: He said of Democrats “They may be with you for the first shots. But they’re not going to be with you for the tough battles......When it gets tough, and when it gets difficult, they fall back on that party’s old pattern of cutting and running. …" This nonsense from a man who has made quitting a standard operating procedure: He has given up on our best preventive defense strategies, quit on cooperation, cut and run on our allies, our intelligence community. Why, from the looks of this House resolution, the Republicans have even quit listening to the military....

A political-junkie military friend back from Iraq writes to me:

Tompaine's Dreyfuss has got it close to right. What the administration is doing, on the one hand, is acting tough, calling out to "stay the course" and beating up all Democrats based on the words of the "out now" crowd...  on the other hand, while everyone is distracted, they are, as they have been for two years, fighting a decent interval strategy. Their only focus is to shift the problem to the Iraqis as soon as possible, get on the airplane,and say "it looked good when I left".... The administration has been spinning the situation, setting up the Iraqis for the blame (in 2008) and setting the tone of the discussion... Instead of talking about Administration incompetence we're defending those people, who out of frustration and despair are advocating an understandable but unfortunately wrong solution, and handing the Republicans victory in 2006 and 2008.

A friend steeped in Afghanistan for years recently recalled to me how regional intelligence operatives-in dismay--have been getting pulled off long-term human intelligence building assignments to find bin Laden before November.

Our limping democracy, indeed.

Here's the resolution:

H. RES. 861

Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 12, 2006

Mr. HYDE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

RESOLUTION

Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.

Whereas the United States and its allies are engaged in a Global War on Terror, a long and demanding struggle against an adversary that is driven by hatred of American values and that is committed to imposing, by the use of terror, its repressive ideology throughout the world;

Whereas for the past two decades, terrorists have used violence in a futile attempt to intimidate the United States;

Whereas it is essential to the security of the American people and to world security that the United States, together with its allies, take the battle to the terrorists and to those who provide them assistance;

Whereas the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other terrorists failed to stop free elections in Afghanistan and the first popularly-elected President in that nation's history has taken office;

Whereas the continued determination of Afghanistan, the United States, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will be required to sustain a sovereign, free, and secure Afghanistan;

Whereas the steadfast resolve of the United States and its partners since September 11, 2001, helped persuade the government of Libya to surrender its weapons of mass destruction;

Whereas by early 2003 Saddam Hussein and his criminal, Ba'athist regime in Iraq, which had supported terrorists, constituted a threat against global peace and security and was in violation of mandatory United Nations Security Council Resolutions;

Whereas the mission of the United States and its Coalition partners, having removed Saddam Hussein and his regime from power, is to establish a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq at peace with its neighbors;

Whereas the terrorists have declared Iraq to be the central front in their war against all who oppose their ideology;

Whereas the Iraqi people, with the help of the United States and other Coalition partners, have formed a permanent, representative government under a newly ratified constitution;

Whereas the terrorists seek to destroy the new unity government because it threatens the terrorists' aspirations for Iraq and the broader Middle East;

Whereas United States Armed Forces, in coordination with Iraqi security forces and Coalition and other friendly forces, have scored impressive victories in Iraq including finding and killing the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi;

Whereas Iraqi security forces are, over time, taking over from United States and Coalition forces a growing proportion of independent operations and increasingly lead the fight to secure Iraq;

Whereas the United States and Coalition servicemembers and civilians and the members of the Iraqi security forces and those assisting them who have made the ultimate sacrifice or been wounded in Iraq have done so nobly, in the cause of freedom; and

Whereas the United States and its Coalition partners will continue to support Iraq as part of the Global War on Terror: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) honors all those Americans who have taken an active part in the Global War on Terror, whether as first responders protecting the homeland, as servicemembers overseas, as diplomats and intelligence officers, or in other roles;

(2) honors the sacrifices of the United States Armed Forces and of partners in the Coalition, and of the Iraqis and Afghans who fight alongside them, especially those who have fallen or been wounded in the struggle, and honors as well the sacrifices of their families and of others who risk their lives to help defend freedom;

(3) declares that it is not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq;

(4) declares that the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq;

(5) congratulates Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the Iraqi people on the courage they have shown by participating, in increasing millions, in the elections of 2005 and on the formation of the first government under Iraq's new constitution;

(6) calls upon the nations of the world to promote global peace and security by standing with the United States and other Coalition partners to support the efforts of the Iraqi and Afghan people to live in freedom; and

(7) declares that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the noble struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary

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