No Time to Lose Focus of the True Meaning of the Iraq Debate

Last week on Capitol Hill was particularly unsettling. As another 15 sons and daughters of America died in the crossfire in Iraq, as 130,000 American troops over there still saw no light at the end of the tunnel, as Osama bin Laden continued to control his own safe zone, and as the United States Senate debated a change of course, the news coverage and the political dialog zeroed in on... a newspaper ad.

A number of Republicans pointed to the ad in question while demanding, "Support the troops!" Then, they turned around and blocked a measure to give our troops time at home equal to their tours overseas -- a measure supported by the 360,000 member Military Officers Association of America. Apparently, the irony was lost on many.

And so it was another Iraq debate in Washington, perhaps the only place where the uproar over an advertisement can supplant the devastating reality on the ground. Meanwhile, buried in the who-said-what headlines about a newspaper ad was the fact that one of the most seminal weeks of the war came and went without nearly enough attention.

It was a week in which once-realistic hopes for a broad coalition needed to change course in Iraq were dashed. It was a week in which Senators whose consciences had seen enough of this awful war in July were suddenly pulled back in line with the president. And in the end, it was a week in which "stay the course" got another Republican stamp of approval.

Media interest in these developments appeared to have been sucked away by the fabricated controversy over the ad, as well as the skillfully orchestrated, if marginally accurate, PR surrounding "The Surge."

With the true significance of the week muddled, many Republicans latched onto General Petraeus, hiding behind his personal poll numbers instead of facing the facts and images from the ground. With actions like this on the most important issue we face, the Republican Party is losing the public faith more each day.

Their staunch support for the president and this war means that they must be accountable for the failed policy -- and I believe that their constituents will take them to task. The more times they act to extend this dead-end war policy, the less they have in common with the American people.

Politically, that is an untenable place to be with the most important elections in recent memory a little more than a year away. But they chose a short-term political victory. They chose to back a president who lost credibility on this war about the same time he stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished", four and a half long years ago. And they will have to live with that.

Still, the electoral implications of the Iraq debate always take a back seat -- a far back seat -- to the more immediate life-and-death consequences. These are the consequences that were somehow glossed over last week.

Perhaps some have grown weary of the tangible results of our Iraq policy -- after all, this war has worn on our country and its psyche for years. Perhaps some in the media simply enjoy the peripheral maneuvering more than the reality of the Iraq war. Perhaps my party continues to fall short in our attempts to communicate the real meaning of these Iraq votes.

Whatever the reason, the story about one of the most seminal weeks of the war got buried. Because we still haven't broken through, the real, human consequences of our votes on Iraq should be repeated again... and again, and again, until we all focus on what's at stake and understand that a newspaper ad isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things.

That's why everyday, in everything we do, we should keep in our minds that 130,000 sons and daughters of America remain in the crossfire, with no prospects for coming home. That our military continues to be stretched thin to the point that it can't adequately respond to other threats that may arise. That our national guard remains overused and overburdened to the point that it can't properly respond to disasters here in the homeland.

That the terror training ground in Iraq remains fertile, and one day those trainees could be on our soil. That Osama bin Laden is back in business and continues to roam free in a safe zone along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

That thousands upon thousands of Americans fighting in Iraq won't be sitting at the table this Thanksgiving... or the next one. And that some won't see another Thanksgiving, period.

Comments

[andoranoyes]

Yes, I do agree about leaving out the real news. Please tell me why no one is talking about the illegal and unethical Hunt Oil deal with the Kurds? Is this censorship so very effective that not even liberals and anti-war activists are talking about this? Please, I am begging you to bring this illegal move into the light because it completely validates the cries of us who claim this is a corporate oil war. I tried to post the CBS News article that discusses this deal on a conservative blog called freerepublic and was banned from posting there! Is it true that no one wants to know about this?

[OldKnute]

Is it all that difficult to understand?

You have one group of radical fundamentalists doing battle with another group of radical fundamentalists.

Bin Laden sees the GRERAT Satin.

George Bush and his,,,,, Armageddon Crusaders,,, see the devil himself incarnate in bin Laden.

Senator, with all due respect. General Pace sat before Congress last week and defied the LAW of the LAND, by refusing to get off his RADICAL pontifications opposing the "Don"t as don"t tell" LAWS of American treatment of Gays and Lesbians in the military.

By his own mouth, right there as America Watched, and before YOUR EYES.

No,,, correction,, THE WORLD watched as the hear of the American military Said that Gays are IMMORAL, go against Gods will, and equated them ALL with adulterers and deviants.

NOW.. To the basics. Dow you think a Gay would make four star General if BUSH or General Pace has anything to say about it?

These radical fundamentalists beliefs have infected the ranks of the United States military command and anfd officer corps ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP!

GET IT!

They only promote who they want5, when they want and WHY they want and they have taken this country to war based on their Narrow extremist,,,,, Armageddon Crusader,,,,, belief systems.

And they will sit right there and DEFY the LAW, with God, the American people and the WORLD watching.

Do I defend gays?

YOU BET YOUR SWEET ARSE I DO!

They are Americans!!!!!!!

Senator, with respect.

This is NOT firkin Rocket Science!

They defy the LAW!!!!!!!

And your Officer Corps in infected to the TEETH!!!!

This is NOT a RightLeft thing,,, it is about THE LAW!!!!!

All the best

Knute (Neo-LIB)

[bookish]

Raw Story says rotating teams of students have blocked an intersection in DC, with the goal of stopping traffic Monday morning in the capitol. No police action yet.

Raw story describes it as a "spontaneous" act of civil disobedience to the war, inspired by the people of Burma.

[Honest George]

Dear Sen. Menendez
i am not a cut and runner. I couldn't hardly wait to sign up in 1950.I have to admit though that the paragraph above relating to growing weary can be applied to me. I am sick of hearing the low poll numbers of the Congress. They are doing what they can against the republican war machine. I hope we can get the House, The Senate and the Presidentcy in the 08 elections. Sen. Webbs try to get the troops to spend as much time home as in battle getting defeated was a disgrace.I know it would cost him his Senate seat but I wish he would kick somebodys ass up there. I believe he could do it. Keep fighting for justice for the country Dems I believe your day is coming

[Star2000dancer]

ELECTION? ELECTONS!! How long has it been since our elections process has worked?? Majority doesn't matter anymore. The electoral college is ridiculous and should've been outlawed by now. We are controlled by dictatorship! Money & Power destroyed democracy. The very thing our country is so proud of is gone! Bush should've never been president...period. But the way he keeps changing the constitution under our very noses, he could probably still be president forever. They're already trying to set up California for '08 for Rupubs. Bush is playing Risk with the whole world & is having a riot..he knows he can't be stopped even if 90% of the country signed a petition. We are like fleas to him..annoying, but easily killed or swatted away. He lies, cheats & breaks all rules. Who or what can stop him , big money, & all his cronies?

[Ragtimer]

I just want to know one thing.

Why in hell is George Bush still in the White House, like why is impeachment off the table? " Nancy?

[deminmo]

Senator, didn't one of Mr. Bush's points deal with staying in Iraq so that terrorists were kept in Iraq? And thus the justification for keeping troops in Iraq for an unspecified time.

What about all the other places that possible terrorists can come into the US?

Based on how poorly our borders are secured, and the possibility of a terrorist destroying power grids from the internet, I can't see how Iraq is the biggest problem.

Maybe our biggest threats are from Washington, with the inability of Congress to stop supporting the funding for a "war" that is not likely to end with much more than what we already have.

[bsbgone]

What I will never understand is why EVERY Democratic office-holder doesn't just keep pounding away with ONE SIMPLE MESSAGE:

"If there were more Democrats in Congress, this war would be over. If there were a Democrat in the White House, the troops would be coming home and the healing could begin."

Just HAMMER that one message over and over -- it's driving clarity is irefutable.

Unfortunately, given the pathetic performance of Democrats since the last election, this message may not even be true.

[realistic2008]

It is about time the American people stop being apathetic and demand that our young soldiers be brought home. We can't let this continue, a drain of precious human lives, resources that we can ill afford and the continue loss of what is left of the prestige and respect of this nation.
We should also demand that our representatives in Congress, stand firm side by side in the steps of the Capitol for as long as it takes telling the thruth to the American people.

[grn1]

No Time to Lose Focus of the True Meaning of the Iraq Debate
THE ONLY REASON WE NEED TO GET OUT OF IRAQ "WE ARE COMMITTING A CRIME" iRAQ IS AN ILLEGAL WAR AND OCCUPATION. posted 09/26/2007 at 12:15:42

[CarmanK]

I think Nancy Pelosi said it all. The Republicans have taken Bush's War and made it their own. They have now taken ownership of the War and also the responsibility to promote and make acceptable the idea that the war will go on another 10 years or so, and then continued occupation i.e. South Korea.

[Spider53]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outlines a litany of abuses by a major power: occupying a country illegally, torturing people, murdering people, destroying property, abusing human rights, spying on its own citizens, and other violations of civilized behavior.

How does the Congress, State Department, the newsmedia respond to Ahmadinejad's unnamed evil empire? These entities identify the unmentioned culprit as America!

Ahmadinejad clearly establishes himself as one very clever dude, but the lesson is lost on the naive, the guileless.

If the Iranian president had spoken the same words in 1941, everyone hearing his speech would have quickly identified the evil empire, not as America.

[LoriAnn]

I agree with some of what the Senator has stated but no one ever gives the real picture and Im not saying I know it all but...The Senator is drinkin' the Koolaid when it comes to the terrorists fertile training ground and they'll follow us here!!! By staying in Iraq and effectively just trying to stay alive the US has provided the best recruitment tool the terrorists have!! There is nothing now that keeps them from coming here to do what they will, to boast otherwise is foolish. We have 150,000 brave, underpaid, American patriots being wasted on an illegal occupation and 180,000 overpaid, lawless, Robo Cops doing their worst to a captive audience. Doesnt sound like the American ethic I knew. Open your eyes Senator you may have become yet another blinded facilitator for this corrupt administration.

[AOGutierrez]

I believe the Senator was pointing out that Iraq is a terrorist training ground because of our presence and that the longer we remain the more likely it is that some of them may end up here rather than preventing that outcome as the administration seems to believe.

[rmreddicks]

Mr. Menendez; (in good conscience I can no longer consider you and your colleagues Senators)

"It was a week in which Senators whose consciences had seen enough of this awful war in July were suddenly pulled back in line with the president."

How does the word "consciences" fit with such a statement?

There is a "broad coalition" for changing course in Iraq. That coalition is the mass of the citizens of this country. While you denizens of Capitol Hill choose to ignore it, it is none the less there.

You should stop playing ends against the middle . Do what should be done or have the grace to get out of the way.

[HelenIsaacson]

The "real, human consequences." These words of Senator Menendez are exactly the right ones for our elected representatives to consider in determining their position on Iraq. Those members of Congress who signed a letter to President Bush informing him that they "will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operation in Iraq. . . for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq" were considering "human consequences" over the possibility that they might lose votes by wrongly being called "not supporting the troops." Most Americans now recognize that the best way to support our troops is to bring them home, and that the Iraqi people for the most part want our troops out of their country. The July 19 letter to the President will be sent again at the end of this month with additional signatures. Urge your own member of Congress to sign, and email Speaker Nancy Pelosi RIGHT NOW AS YOU SIT IN FRONT OF YOUR COMPUTER urging her to sign the letter. Click on http://speaker.house.gov/contact and your opinion will be counted no matter where in the U.S. you live. Her Congressional office takes note of her constituents only, but as Speaker she believes she serves all Americans.

[grannyE]

Since there is no money to be made by peace, but trillions are made by war-corporate weapons productions...including the pork our leaders bring back to every state...there will alwlays be a war enjoyed by same. Try introducing a cost-plus, no profit tax on all these corporations and see how peasceful my country suddenly becomes.

[realistic2008]

What is more irritating is how naive and gullible the administration thinks we are.Marcenaries are now contractors. The most terrifying weapons of mass destruction we have and keep producing even more lethal ones are called "peaceful means"
I like to see these merchants of death pay for their inhumane means of destruction, make them pay the families of our soldiers who have lost or have an injured soldier to support them for their rest of their lives and don't forget to pay for all the destruction their weapons have done to the nation of Iraq.

[pvernier]

Nobody seems to know how to end this war. And that's exactly what they are doing about it, Nothing!

The people spoke and the Democrats have ignored us as well.

I would like to introduce a bill that would fund the retrofit of spines for the Democrats. And, if some money is left over, maybe a few pair of huevos.

[TankerRat]

Have you looked at Bill Richardson's campaign? Probably not. To busy no doubt with Hillary (it's her destiny) or Barak(all kneel and genuflect) and blathering about Petreaus. He (Richardson) is the only one saying he'll bring the boys/girls home. You'll get a Bush clone next year (Romney or Rudy) because the Demo elite has ALREADY decided that Hillary (of the Hill and Billary show) will be the nominee. She'll get shellaced and there will be more whining on this and other blogs. The whole damn thing makes me want to vomit. Anybody got a spare barf bag.