62 Congressional representatives, led by Democrat Lynn Woolsey, have sent a letter to president Bush outlining a four-point therapeutic intervention for the administration’s dysfunctional Iraq policy. The group includes one Republican, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
The letter is a welcome sign of intelligent Democratic Congressional life on the Iraq issue. Although the public has obviously soured on the adventure and on the administration’s insistent dishonesty surrounding it, no one in either party has to this point offered any halfway serious alternative other than withdrawing troops in whole or part, or sending more troops (which we don’t have). Woolsey’s letter provides at least the outlines for a debate that can engage the majority of Americans and at least some members of the increasingly restive Republican herd in Congress.
Multilateral CooperationThe U.S. must engage the international community, including the UN and NATO, to establish a multinational interim security force for Iraq. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, for example, is well suited to this task.
Diplomatic/Non-Military Initiatives
The U.S. must pursue a “diplomatic offensive,” shifting its role from that of Iraq’s military occupier to its reconstruction partner. This means giving Iraq back to the Iraqi people, working with them to rebuild their economic and physical infrastructure, and creating Iraqi jobs. The U.S. must also engage the United Nations to oversee Iraq’s economic and humanitarian needs, renounce any desire to control Iraqi oil, and ensure that the U.S. does not maintain lasting military bases in Iraq.
Post-Conflict Reconciliation
An international peace commission must be established to oversee Iraq’s post-war reconciliation. This group would include members of the global community who have experience in international peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and would be tasked with coordinating peace talks between Iraq’s various factions.
Withdrawal of the U.S. Armed Forces
The cost of the war in Iraq – both human and financial – has been staggering. Tragically, the American and Iraqi lives lost, and the billions of dollars spent, have failed to actually make our country safer from the threat of international terrorism. To end the war in Iraq, save lives, and prevent the U.S. from spiraling even further into debt, the U.S. must withdraw its Armed Forces from Iraq.
Implementing the plan may well be impossible now even in the unlikely event the Bush administration are interested in a sane way out. Peacekeeping has to be preceded by something resembling peace; persuading UN member nations and our allies in NATO to send sufficient numbers of troops into the meatgrinder we’ve fostered in Iraq would be an epically tough sell, and the cornerstone of any such effort would be our government’s commitment to ending the US occupation and renouncing any claims to a permanent military presence there. The latter requirement would be an especially bitter pill for the Bush administration to swallow.
Whatever the difficulties implementing it, though, the proposal is eminently rational if you remove the Bush administration from the equation. One of the arguments against it will be that it makes a mockery of all the lives and dollars we’ve pumped into Iraq; the answer to that is that however catastrophic the results of the invasion, it did in fact remove Saddam and provide Iraqis with an opportunity to determine their own fate, but our continuing presence has become an obstacle to that opportunity. In other words, we won: now our job is to get out of the way in the fashion most likely to allow Iraq to succeed as a state.
62 House members probably aren’t a large enough group to generate much heat around the proposal. But another hundred or so could help shift the national conversation from whether we should get out to how we should get out, and down that road lies something as close to salvation as we’re going to get. If you’re serious about finding a way to leave Iraq that actually helps that country and doesn’t do ours any further damage, write your representative and urge him or her to sign on to Woolsey’s letter. The House of Representatives offers a “Write Your Representative” service: take advantage of it.
Following is the complete text of Woolsey’s letter, along with the names of the House members who have signed it.
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November 10, 2005
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Despite two and a half years of warfare, including the deaths of over 2,000 American soldiers and injuries to 15,000 others, Iraq remains as unstable as it was when you declared an end to major combat operations in May 2003. We need to face the fact that the situation in Iraq is not improving – nor will it improve as long as our troops remain there, because the presence of over 160,000 American soldiers on Iraqi soil is the main catalyst fueling Iraq’s insurgency.
The time is long overdue for the U.S. to change course in Iraq and bring our troops home. To transition from war to peace, we recommend that your administration immediately make four pivotal policy changes in Iraq: 1) engage in greater multilateral cooperation with our allies; 2) pursue diplomatic/non-military initiatives; 3) prepare for a robust post-conflict reconciliation process; and 4) withdraw the U.S. Armed Forces.
Multilateral Cooperation
The U.S. must engage the international community, including the UN and NATO, to establish a multinational interim security force for Iraq. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, for example, is well suited to this task.
Diplomatic/Non-Military Initiatives
The U.S. must pursue a “diplomatic offensive,” shifting its role from that of Iraq’s military occupier to its reconstruction partner. This means giving Iraq back to the Iraqi people, working with them to rebuild their economic and physical infrastructure, and creating Iraqi jobs. The U.S. must also engage the United Nations to oversee Iraq’s economic and humanitarian needs, renounce any desire to control Iraqi oil, and ensure that the U.S. does not maintain lasting military bases in Iraq.
Post-Conflict Reconciliation
An international peace commission must be established to oversee Iraq’s post-war reconciliation. This group would include members of the global community who have experience in international peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and would be tasked with coordinating peace talks between Iraq’s various factions.
Withdrawal of the U.S. Armed Forces
The cost of the war in Iraq – both human and financial – has been staggering. Tragically, the American and Iraqi lives lost, and the billions of dollars spent, have failed to actually make our country safer from the threat of international terrorism. To end the war in Iraq, save lives, and prevent the U.S. from spiraling even further into debt, the U.S. must withdraw its Armed Forces from Iraq.
Mr. President, after Iraq holds its December parliamentary elections, the country’s leaders will be responsible for charting Iraq’s course. The international community, including the U.S., can then provide non-militaristic support to ensure a self-sufficient Iraq. We look forward to your response to our recommendations and would welcome the opportunity to discuss them with you.
Sincerely,
U.S. Representative Lynn Woolsey
The following Members of Congress and Delegates joined Rep. Woolsey in signing her letter: U.S. Reps.
Neil Abercrombie (D-HI),
Joe Baca (D-CA),
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI),
Robert Brady (D-PA),
Sherrod Brown (D-OH),
Lois Capps (D-CA),
Julia Carson (D-IN),
William Lacy Clay (D-MO),
Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO),
James Clyburn (D-SC),
John Conyers (D-MI),
Jerry Costello (D-IL),
Elijah Cummings (D-MD),
Danny Davis (D-IL),
William Delahunt (D-MA),
Mike Doyle (D-PA),
Lane Evans (D-IL),
Sam Farr (D-CA),
Bob Filner (D-CA),
Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ),
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),
Rush Holt (D-NJ),
Michael Honda (D-CA),
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX),
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH),
Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI),
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH),
John Larson (D-CT),
Barbara Lee (D-CA),
John Lewis (D-GA),
Jim McDermott (D-WA),
James McGovern (D-MA),
Cynthia McKinney (D-GA),
Michael McNulty (D-NY),
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY),
Martin Meehan (D-MA),
Gregory Meeks (D-NY),
Gwen Moore (D-WI),
James Moran (D-VA),
Grace Napolitano (D-CA),
James Oberstar (D-MN),
John Olver (D-MA),
Major Owens (D-NY),
Frank Pallone (D-NJ),
Ed Pastor (D-AZ),
Ron Paul (R-TX),
Donald Payne (D-NJ),
Charles Rangel (D-NY),
Bobby Rush (D-IL),
Linda Sánchez (D-CA),
Janice Schakowsky (D-IL),
David Scott (D-GA),
José Serrano (D-NY),
Hilda Solis (D-CA),
Pete Stark (D-CA),
Edolphus Towns (D-NY),
Nydia Velázquez (D-NY),
Maxine Waters (D-CA),
Diane Watson (D-CA)
and Congressional Delegates Donna Christensen (D-VI), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
###
Susannah Cernojevich
Communications Director
Office of Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey
2263 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5187
202-225-5163 (fax)
Weldon,
As you point out, getting NATO and/or the UN to sign on to this is problematical, to say the least. Indeed, why should they do so, security being the critical issue for Iraq and anyone undertaking to provide it leaving him/itself open to recrimination for any failures? Not likely.
I doubt that anything along these lines would be seriously pursued by the administration as it is currently constituted. That is to say, before progress is possible, it is necessary to throw the bums out.
One way out of the quagmire is to enlist the help of the Arab League, bringing in multinational brigades from its nations on a one-for-one basis as Iraqi brigades are trained, so that every time an Iraqi brigade becomes functional, we can withdraw two American brigades.
Recent news indicates that the Arab League had offered to handle Iraqi peacekeeping during a post-Saddam transition period, but was ignored by the Bush administration. Perhaps a new administration could prevail on them to renew the offer.
Using Arab League troops rather than UN peacekeepers gets around the problem of the non-military aspect of peacekeepers.
That sounds truly hopeful. I hadn’t heard it before. Does the administration know? Maybe a front page story in the Washington Post would get their attention.