From the Columbian online:
Baird advises facing realities
As lawmakers digest Monday’s testimony from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird said he wants people to consider “two realities.”
“Regardless of their testimony, those who want an immediate withdrawal or want to stop funding don’t have the votes to override a presidential veto,” Baird said.
“By the same token, it is possible that they may persuade some members of Congress and members of the general public that things are different - that while there are significant challenges, there is some good news in Iraq - and that can move people,” the Vancouver Democrat said.
Baird, a lonely voice on his side of the aisle for continuing support of military operations, said he watched the testimony on a television in his office. After he spent an hour and a half with Petraeus and Crocker last month, Monday’s presentations went pretty much as Baird expected and hoped.
“Both were very direct about progress that has been made and the challenges that remain. That’s what I hoped they would do, and I hope the American people listened to them,” Baird said. “These are good men, professionals who are putting their lives on the line for our country, and telling people as best as they can what they think the situation is and what we can do.”
Rep. Baird, with all due respect, please face these realities:
• You’ve been punked. Petraeus showed you what he wanted you to see, played on your sympathies and even used the old con-man’s trick of self-deprecation* to gain your confidence. From ThinkProgress:
The Washington Post reported this weekend that the White House political office and Gen. David Petraeus’ unit have been “hard-wired” together, working jointly to “map out ways of selling the surge.”
The White House has used Petraeus as a PR flack over and over again to sustain its failing Iraq strategy. Last month, Petraeus kicked his political activities into overdrive. He hosted over 38 congressional members inside the Green Zone, and he gave numerous radio, print and TV interviews.
ThinkProgress has compiled a report of Gen. Petraeus’ public activities in August which show that the top general in Iraq spent at least half the month flacking for Bush’s escalation.
[links and emphasis in original.]
• Every quantitative report on Iraq shows the situation deteriorating, with more violence not less, and with less political cohesion, not more.
• Nearly 60% of Iraqis think attacks on Americans are fully justified, and 70% of Iraqis want us to leave now.
• Anyone with a moderately functioning frontal lobe understands that unless we’re willing to reinstate the draft and pour another 300,000 troops into Iraq, we will continue to engage in this giant game of Whack-a-Mole, tamping down insurgency and factional violence in Baghdad or Anbar only to have it crop up in Basra or Ramadi. Lather, rinse, repeat until the U.S. military is completely broken.
• Speaking of Basra, have you noticed its devolution into Lord of the Flies, with the British hiding out, barracaded at the Basra airbase?
Rep. Baird, I know you want to limit the damage from this illegal war. But it can’t be done - especially not by American troops, the ultimate source of the chaos and carnage.
Yes, for a time, things will get worse in Iraq after U.S. troops withdraw. But they will get worse regardless of whether we stay another 6 months or 6 years. We will have to leave eventually, and what will happen after we’ve gone will happen regardless of how long we stay. Those bent on civil war will simply bide their time. And they have the advantage of time, as do all peoples under military occupation.
Please face reality: it’s time to bring our soldiers home.
*Baird said he was “impressed” by Petraeus’s “admission” that the surge was not wholly responsible for the reduction in violence in Anbar Province, and that this admission was largely the reason for his trust of Petraeus.
Last 2 posts in Baird, Brian
- Abraham, Martin, John and Bobby - August 21st, 2008
- don't forget tomorrow's moneybomb for strangebedfellows - August 7th, 2008
Last 2 posts in Iraq
- unacceptable - August 27th, 2008
- Million Doors for Peace - August 22nd, 2008
If you liked this post, feel free to subscribe to our rss feeds
Loading ...
6 Comments so far (Add 1 more)
(listed oldest to newest)