A few weeks ago, “A Responsible Plan to End The War in Iraq”, initiated by Washington State Congressional candidate Darcy Burner and heavily influenced by former Commanding General in Iraq Paul Eaton, was unveiled at the Take Back America Conference in Washington D.C.
General Eaton had this to say in a taped interview: “I’m proud of this document, I’m proud of the people who produced it, and I certainly expect a great outcome.”
My sentiments also, General Eaton, although I’m not optimistic there are any possible “great outcomes” in Iraq, just some that are not as bad as others.
Nevertheless, my first thought upon reading the plan was that I'm proud to be an 8th District Democrat with Darcy Burner as my candidate.
The project was instigated by Darcy Burner who “got tired of waiting” for solutions from our political leaders because, as she put it in a recent Seattle Times editorial, “this war is undermining our country”.
The 36 page document obliterates any notion of a “reckless” or irresponsible military exit from Iraq, and explains why replacing the fruitless military operations with a surge in diplomatic, economic and humanitarian endeavors is preferable to a perennial military occupation. More importantly, it spells out exactly how such efforts can and should be implemented, and provides a legislative strategy for preventing similar foreign policy blunders in the future.
General Petraeus, the man whose testimony is providing cover for an indefinite continuation of our current Iraq strategy, if you can call it a strategy, himself said a year ago “there is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq.” Just last week, following an ostensibly successful one year “surge”, he corroborated his own statement by informing Congress “we haven’t turned any corners, we haven’t seen any lights at the end of the tunnel.”
If there is “no military solution”, then why are our servicemen and resources being squandered on a futile military campaign?
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