I am no political junkie and the only time I ever watch CNN is when I have the unfortunate luck of getting stuck on a treadmill facing a TV broadcasting - yuck - news. That said, given my ridiculous ignorance on the whole Iraq situation - and its severe, daily degradation - I decided to check out the Iraq Study Report. I'm not a big fan of Bush's plan, but I must admit (and I never thought I would ever say/type this) I agree with Cheney that the Democrats haven't put forth anything better (or anything, for that matter). The Democrats are posturing for their respective presidential runs and haven't had much time apparently to do some actual thinking /planning on this whole Iraq situation.
So after reading (OK, OK, I'll admit it - I only skimmed it) the report, I lifted some key quotes (out of context of course to spin them in a way that support my own opinion - like any good Fox journalist):
"If the Iraqi government does not make substantial progress toward the achievement of milestones on national reconciliation, security, and governance, the United States should reduce its political, military, or economic support for the Iraqi government." The report does a good job (at least to someone like me who is totally ignorant on the subject) talking about the progress of Iraqi government - and it is not good. A million factors obviously contribute to this, but I thought this was particularly relevant:
"The composition of the Iraqi government is basically sectarian, and key players within the government too often act in their sectarian interest....The Shia, the majority of Iraq’s population, have gained power for the first time in more than 1,300 years....Sunni Arabs feel displaced because of the loss of their traditional position of power in Iraq.....Iraq’s leaders often claim that they do not want a division of the country, but we found that key Shia and Kurdish leaders have little commitment to national reconciliation." These sentences - coupled with the daily headline of deaths in Iraq - should illustrate that: Iraq is in civil war, and a lot of people have a lot of entrenched interests. It's not clear to me how 21,000 additional troops addresses this problem.
"The Iraqi government is not effectively providing its people with basic services: electricity, drinking water, sewage, health care, and education. In many sectors, production is below or hovers around prewar levels. In Baghdad and other unstable areas, the situation is much worse." I'm not a smart man. But if you look at many of the violent conflicts in the world over the last 250 years, they have been fueled by economic unrest and the frustration that results. It's pretty easy to sign someone up for jihad when they haven't eaten a decent meal in months and their neighborhood is going bombed out on a daily basis.
"...if the Iraqi government does not make political progress, 'all the troops in the world will not provide security.'....A reinvigorated diplomatic effort is required because it is clear that the Iraqi government cannot succeed in governing, defending, and sustaining itself by relying on U.S. military and economic support alone." Perhaps a coalition of 21,000 medical, banking, social service and diplomatic officials from the U.N. and (italics mean it is really, really emphasized) the neighboring countries of Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia is really what's needed?
"Currently, the U.S. military rarely engages in large-scale combat operations. Instead, counterinsurgency efforts focus on a strategy of “clear, hold, and build” - “clearing” areas of -
insurgents and death squads, “holding” those areas with Iraqi security forces, and “building” areas with quick-impact reconstruction projects." The report then details that Iraqi forces used to "hold" an area, but a combination of a lack of training and a lack of motivation to hold an area if it conflicts with their particular cultural/religious background makes it difficult to hold the area.
I'm not an expert....but if you read (or, ahem, skim) the report, the situation is fucked over there, for a lack of better word. And hundreds of U.S. citizens are dying over there a month. Perhaps we need to focus our attack on the socio-economic issues Iraq is facing. Get U.N./coalition partners to aid in the training of the military. Focus U.S. military forces only on "clearing" and have U.N/Coalition + Iraqi forces "holding". The send a "surge" of Socio-Economic experts to build the infrastructure needed. Without food, sanctuary or hope - this situation doesn't seem like it can be rectified.
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