Reid Clears the Record on Iraq
Frankly, this needed to be done.
Senator Reid\’s initial statement was much more than misspeaking or making a
mistake, because it dealt with the Iraq war, which has become an open wound
for every single American for good reasons. Reid has also been around a long
time and knows what happens with these sorts of things, especially with U.S.
troops dying at an 32% increase in recent months. This is what he said on Sunday.
\”If the commanders on the ground said this is just for a short period
of time, we\’ll go along with that,\” said Reid, D-Nev., citing a time
frame such as two months to three months. But a period of 18 months to 24
months would be too long, he said.\”The American people will not allow this war to go on as it has. It
simply is a war that will not be won militarily. It can only be won politically,\”
Reid said.
The minute it was out of his mouth, no doubt, he knew he had to undo the damage.
He\’s finally done just that.
Frankly, I don\’t believe that more troops is the answer for Iraq. It\’s a
civil war and America should not be policing a Sunni-Shia conflict. In addition,
we don\’t have the additional forces to put in there. We obviously want to
support what commanders in the field say they need, but apparently even the
Joint Chiefs do not support increased combat forces for Baghdad. My position
on Iraq is simple:1. I believe we should start redeploying troops in 4 to 6 months (The Levin-Reed
Plan) and complete the withdrawal of combat forces by the first quarter of
2008. (As laid out by the Iraq Study Group)2. The President must understand that there can only be a political solution
in Iraq, and he must end our nation\’s open-ended military commitment to that
country.3. These priorities need to be coupled with a renewed diplomatic effort and
regional strategy.I do not support an escalation of the conflict. I support finding a way to
bring our troops home and would look at any plan that gave a roadmap to this
goal.
From Senators Jack Reed, Kennedy and Clinton to many faithful Democrats, we
all let Senator Harry Reid know he\’d said something that just wasn\’t going to
fly. It\’s been corrected. Many likely want me to leave it at that but I simply
cannot.
When Senators Kerry and Feingold put forth their plan in the Senate to get
out of Iraq by July 2007, Reid scheduled the debate after sunset. He wanted no
part of redeployment timelines and neither did many other Democrats. Now don\’t
get me wrong, Reid is a smart, dedicated leader who knows what he\’s doing, but
he\’s not been for a timeline at any point until his post yesterday. What Reid voted for was reports
on progress: To clarify and recommend changes to the policy of the United
States on Iraq and to require reports on certain matters relating to Iraq.
That\’s very different, which is why so many people took Reid\’s statement on
Sunday exactly as it was spoken.
When speaking about the Iraq war in the middle of Bush\’s mismanaged disaster it\’s important,
even critical, to say exactly what you mean the first time. When people
are dying at alarming rates that continue to escalate it\’s not too much to ask
that everyone mean what they say and say what they mean.
Of course, that doesn\’t always happen, but when you get it wrong a correction
or clarification is warranted.
Senator Hillary Clinton recently made a very bold change in her rhetoric on the war.
Majority leader Reid says he now believes we should redeploy in 4-6 months.
That\’s entirely different from the
Levin-Reed plan he supported, which called for 2006 to be a time of “significant
transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with Iraqi security forces taking the
lead for the security of a free and sovereign Iraq, thereby creating the conditions
for the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq.”
The shifts we\’re hearing in Democratic leaders are real and noteworthy, especially since they are now noting timelines, along with their rejection of prior \”yea\” votes on authorization.
What Reid wrote late yesterday was important to put down. It calls for a timeline,
something he did not support at any other time, which made his statement on Sunday all the
more jolting to many and understandably so.
No doubt I\’ll get emails screaming at me for drawing this all out and for not just moving on, but that\’s too bad. The distinctions matter, especially when men and women are dying in battle. I refuse to do anything less.
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