Sunday, January 14, 2007

John Kerry Was Right, Part II

When George Bush unveiled his new Iraq strategy last week, most people focused on his plan to send 21,000 additional troops. That plan was roundly criticized by both Republicans and Democrats as not meeting the needs of the Iraq or the U.S.

While the troop surge was probably the highlight of the plan, and the part Bush and Dick Cheney focused on, administration staffers who were given the task of actually improving the situation in Iraq may have secretly devising plans based on reality rather than politics.

In other words, whether of not they actually listened to Sen. John Kerry's criticism of why Bush is stuck in Iraq, they are now doing the things Kerry said Bush had not in previous planning, or lack of planning.

In the past, the problem was that the Bush administration tried to use Iraq as an experiment to test their political theories rather than trying to win the peace. That approach may now change.

As the Washington Post pointed out, desperate for new approaches to stifle the persistent Sunni insurgency and Shiite death squads that are jointly pushing the country toward an all-out civil war, the White House made a striking about-face last week, embracing strategies and people it once opposed or cast aside.

So apparently staffers are now studying the situation, doing their homework on why the previous efforts didn't work and are trying to be smart this time.

"The plan unveiled by Bush last week calls for many people who lost their jobs under Bremer's de-Baathification decree to be rehired. It calls for more Sunnis, who were marginalized under the CPA, to be brought into the government. It calls for state-owned factories to be reopened. It calls for more reconstruction personnel to be stationed outside the Green Zone. It calls for a counterinsurgency strategy that emphasizes providing security to the civilian population over transferring responsibility to local military forces."

Those people include Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who will take over command of all coalition forces in Iraq. During his first tour, the Post said Petraus didn't care for the original tactics, saying "he chafed at the way reconstruction funds, personnel and decision-making were centralized in Baghdad. The CPA's policies, he said in 2004, should have been "tempered by reality.'"

Reality, gee what a concept. Next thing you know the administration will look at the various nuances of the situation, and not just look at everything as black and white. Perhaps then we will see a start toward solving the mess in Iraq.

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