Rumor has it, congressional Democrats can’t agree amongst themselves about a policy towards Iraq. They know Bush’s approach isn’t working, and they recognize the need for significant change, but getting Dems to nail down a unified, specific direction for the future of Iraq is tougher than it sounds. Or so the rumor goes.
Today, to their credit, the Senate and House Democratic Leaders and ranking members from the key national security committees sent Bush a letter calling upon him to “begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces before the end of the year, to transform the U.S. mission, and to launch a real diplomatic and reconstruction effort to help stabilize Iraq.” It’s actually a pretty good letter.
We believe that a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq should begin before the end of 2006. U.S. forces in Iraq should transition to a more limited mission focused on counterterrorism, training and logistical support of Iraqi security forces, and force protection of U.S. personnel.
Additionally, every effort should be made to urge the Iraqis to take the steps necessary to achieve a broad-based and sustainable political settlement, including amending the constitution to achieve a fair sharing of power and resources. It is also essential to disarm the militias and ensure forces loyal to the national government. Finally, an international conference should be convened to persuade other governments to be more involved, and to secure the resources necessary to finance Iraq’s reconstruction and rebuild its economy.
Mr. President, simply staying the course in Iraq is not working. We need to take a new direction. We believe these recommendations comprise an effective alternative to the current open-ended commitment which is not producing the progress in Iraq we would all like to see.
This may seem like relatively boilerplate language, but it’s an encouraging sign of a single Dem policy on the war.
Consider, for example, who signed the letter:
Harry Reid, Senate Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader
Dick Durbin, Senate Assistant Democratic Leader
Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip
Carl Levin, Ranking Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
Ike Skelton, Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
Joe Biden, Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Tom Lantos, Ranking Member, House International Relations Committee
Jay Rockefeller, Vice Chairman, Senate Intelligence Committee
Jane Harman, Ranking Member, House Intelligence Committee
Daniel Inouye, Ranking Member, Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee
John Murtha, Ranking Member, House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee
As a rule, not all of these lawmakers are on the exact same page when it comes to Iraq. Murtha and Biden, for example, have offered different solutions, as have Durbin and Harman. Which is why today’s letter to the White House — which will, of course, quickly reach Karl Rove’s circular file — is such a positive development.
Granted, it’s unlikely you’d get literally every Dem on the Hill to sign on to this letter, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that you’d never get 100% of Republicans to agree on a single policy for Iraq either.
Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but seeing so many disparate Dems sign onto the letter to Bush, and call for a redeployment by year’s end, strikes me as a good sign that the party is coming together on a war policy in advance of the elections.