Dems Split On Iraq Policy
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, The War On Terrorism, WarI said this tonight on Subject2Discussion and now I read it about it in the Chicago Tribune.
And thankfully, it’s from one of my favorite new Senators…Barack Obama:
Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that the Democratic Party was unlikely to reconcile its differences and reach a unified strategy for Iraq, conceding: “The politics and the policy of this may not match perfectly.”As Democrats work to win control of Congress in the 2006 elections, Obama (D-Ill.) said a cacophony of views over the Iraq war threatens to divide the party once again.
“It is arguable that the best politics going into ‘06 would be a clear succinct message: `Let’s bring our troops home,’ ” Obama said. “It’s certainly easier to communicate and I think would probably have some pretty strong resonance with the American people right now, but whether that’s the best policy right now, I don’t feel comfortable saying it is.”
In an interview with the Tribune’s editorial board, Obama renewed his opposition to immediately pulling troops from Iraq. A growing number of Democrats and liberal groups have called for a troop withdrawal, while party leaders such as Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York have dismissed such efforts as dangerously misguided.
“It’s a little too early to tell how coherent the Democratic message is,” Obama said. If quick progress isn’t made in Iraq, he added, “you’re probably going to see strong differences within the party leadership about how to proceed.”
Hmm…I wonder if Obama has read the Clark plan?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 7th, 2005 and is filed under Foreign Policy, The War On Terrorism, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 7th, 2005 at 12:48 pm
If Democrats have any sense they will not regard division as a weakness, but as a reflection of reasonable people. It is impossible to really know what to do.
Democratic failure has been that they have not focused on the large number of very large issues not dealt with by grand gestures, but pragmatic efforts.
Clark is right about the concerns over Irainian influence. However he seems to have ignored the fact that the new Iraqi government has made extensiive trade agreements, promised that Iraq would not be used for attacks and even been forced to cancel a military training pact. So our ability to implement this program or even if accepted to seal borders is questionable.
Indeee I would suggest that the success in the west may be less than he indicates so while the problem is real the proposed solution is at best partial.
Once again knowing what to do is difficult and even the best informed people are making educated guesses though they may hold to these strongly.
One foort to watch is the British in Basra. They are evidently tring to purge Sadrist elements from the police and have dispatched a chief constable with experience in N. Ireland to enact reforms. I think this is a good program, I am skeptical that it can succeed.
A “realistic” policy would also congratulate Bush on admitting that most of the insurgency is local and that economic progress is uneven. These are the kind of details necessary for … I would like to say success, but… at least less undesirible results or a bit more hope.
February 13th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
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