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The Underdog Democrat|"Intelligent Withdrawal" Episode
listen podcastFinally, a Senator has spoken convincingly against the Iraq War, and called for withdrawal to be a policy goal. A more radical position than John Kerry took last year.There's just one problem.He's got an 'R' next to his name."We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Republican Senator. Chuck Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."They say on the stock market that "nobody rings a bell" when the market hits the bottom. And no bell will ring when the momentum has shifted on Iraq. Yet you can feel it. It's not over by any means, but you can feel a turn. The opposition to the war in Iraq can no longer be labeled as fringe so easily. Credit where credit is due -- it is not Chuck Hagel but Cindy Sheehan that set in motion the events. In fact like the Christian Science Monitor are beginning to use the word"tipping point,"in reference to Iraq, a reference to Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point about how radical change can happen from small events.But what's disapointing about Hagel's comments it would be difficult to find a Democratic Senator, outside of maybe Barbara Boxer, who would say the same thing. Hagel's little chat would get you in deep trouble in the halls of the Democratic Leadership Council. Are Democrats being outflanked by moderate Republicans on Iraq withdrawal?A quick explanation of outflanking because I believe the term gets thrown around so much people forget the roots of the word.In millitary terms, when you outflank your opponent you attack both from the front but also from the sides, or flanks. An army has a lot of trouble facing two directions - you simply can't fight forward and to your side at the same time, and armies can be crushed and broken, even when they outnumber their foe. Armies from the ancient time of Greece and Rome through to today have been defeated because their opponents outflanked them.For the record, Democrats have yet to outflank George W. Bush - attacks have always been made where he is strongest and Democrats pursue policy agreement where Bush would be weakest. Only now have a group of Democrats made a flanking attack, I'll explain later, but so far its not anyone in leadership.Since the mainstream of Democratic leadership and key elected officials has been the Kerry Position: tacit support for the war while attacking Bush's Iraq mistake of the past, they have not found themselves able to call for withdrawal at the same time. Thus, a moderate fellow like Hagel, who has been critical of Bush in the past, finds it easy to fill that gap that Democrats have vacated and lob in and start commenting about withdrawal.I keep warning on this site about the Moderate (or so-called moderate) Republicans - I truly believe they are flexing right now and this is going to be the snake that bites us while we focus on Bush and the Neocons, who may start to be on the decline anyway.Of course Bush and the neocon Republicans have also been outflanked by Cindy Sheehan and Chuck Hagel - Bush has been so solid on this war thathe can't call for withdrawal now and thus he can't really combat the issue other than attacking a mom, which isn't the greatest PR for him. Notice how defensive Bush and his spokespeople are these days -- notice how the media says that Bush is now "defending the war" at speeches, instead of "outlining his Iraq policy."This is from May 2004: At 46%, the President’s approval rating on handlingIraq is just one point above his lowest mark in this area.... 59% say the administration exaggerated intelligence findings.Kerry and the Democratic Party had a position that was more conservative than the American people on Iraq. This year, as of February, a Harris poll showed that 6 out of 10 people wanted withdrawal from Iraq. And yet now its August and finally a Republican takes the ball that's lying on the field.But good news on the flanking front: on another issue, some Democrats have outflanked President Bush. President Bush, in an attempt to appeal to Hispanic voters but mostly to businessmen seeking cheap labor, has left a huge gap in his side on immigration. Governor's Richardson of New Mexico and Napolitano of Arizona, two Western Democrats, have declared states of emergency on theirborders to try to prevent illegal immigration and spur Bush to action. But Bush cannot do much on this issue, because his position on immigration has already been adovocated so strongly.INTELLIGENT WITHDRAWAL: the correct frame for Democrats.Borrowing a line from that conservative phony evolution-buster 'intelligent design', all that is required in Iraq is 'intelligent withdrawal' - enough time and planning to get the troops out safely.A goal of 'winning' or 'finishing the job' sounds simple but will have us there for years. US security, and not some abstract pride, should be the criteria for policy. US pride is better served by having troops intelligently withdrawn home or to more strategically important facts of the fight against terrorism such as securing Afganistan or border security.
[ Tue, 23 Aug 2005 07:00:00 -0500 ]
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