General Petraeus, Take Off the Rose-Colored Glasses
Earlier this week, General David Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to deliver their report on the war in Iraq. It was a very somber hearing, and I did my best to convey our strong opposition to the President's war in Iraq.
To hear General Petraeus tell it, you'd think things were on the right track. But let's face facts: This has been the bloodiest summer for U.S. forces in Iraq since the war began -- and despite the hard work and sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform, the Iraqi government has met only 3 of the 18 benchmarks that they agreed to over a year ago.
This war is the biggest foreign policy mistake ever. President Bush took our nation's eye off defeating the terrorists, led by Osama bin Laden, who killed thousands of Americans six years ago. We have lost thousands of American lives, thousands more have been wounded, and our military and our national guard and their families are being strained to the breaking point.
It's time for President Bush and General Petraeus to take off their rose-colored glasses. Once again, they tell us that everything is going well, but a recent BBC/ABC News poll showed that 79% of Iraqis oppose the presence of American troops in Iraq, and 70% of Iraqis think that President Bush's "surge" has made them less secure.
As General Petraeus told the Boston Globe in November 2003, "We want to be seen as an army of liberation and not an army of occupation...There is a half-life on our role here, you wear out your welcome at some point. It doesn't matter how helpful you are. We aren't here to stay."
It's time for President Bush, Congress, and General Petraeus to heed those wise words.
We are sending our troops into a country where they're not wanted, into the middle of a civil war, into the middle of the mother of all foreign policy mistakes, with no end in sight.
Next week, the Senate will have another chance to begin bringing our troops home. I'm going to continue fighting as hard as I can to end the war -- and I'll be asking for your help to do just that. Stay tuned.
No more rose-colored glasses. We must end this war.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is the Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Read more at www.BarbaraBoxer.com.
Follow Sen. Barbara Boxer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Barbara_Boxer
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Thank you Senator Boxer. As you can see from the comments, We are very frustrated and displeased with Congress' inaction in regard to ending this debacle in Iraq. Bush and Cheney have ensnared the US in a trap that will be very difficult to extricate our military from. For that alone they deserve to be impeached. But there are so many reasons that they should be impeached, that We are wondering why legal proceedings haven't already begun.
It's obvious by now that the Republicans and Democrats are letting the clock run out on the Bush administration. Don't let Bush off the hook. This administration needs to be forced to draw down the troops. Begin UN Peace talks if need be. Redeploy to the border regions. Bush is not going to take the initiative. Congress must find a better strategy.
We the People have some suggestions, will you listen to us? Will you read these comments? You are one of the few true allies that we have in Congress right now. Thank you for fighting for America, and representing our state of California.
just keep relating the facts.
it doesn't hurt to say over and over again how manipulative it is to use our military, generals' as well, for political gain....it's a misuse of their service and commitment....and further dishonor to this admin. for hiding behing the General.
Senator Boxer, you are 100% correct. This administration has waged war for four and a half years; longer than WWII. They play upon our fears, saying there is a terrorist under every rock, just as we once heard there was a communist under every rock. What we need to tell them is that Americans are cautious, but we are also brave. We don't need :Daddy" Bush telling us he will take care of us. We are not afraid; we can take care of whatever comes.
It is time to hear from other Americans, sensible people who know that violence is never the answer. We know that this war is depleting our soldiers and treasure at an alarming, alarming rate. It is our turn now. This country needs to listen to us for a change. America has more than one point of view. It is time to wage peace.
With all due respect Ms. Boxer, I know you are speaking out and telling the truth here, but we need to impeach this president and vice- president now.
This administration thinks of our soldiers' wounds and deaths as a "small price" to pay.
It's a small price for them, because none of them are paying. They are getting paid and Congress keeps funding this illegal invasion.
Impeach this rotten (and I mean that literally), administration now, bring our troops home.
What rose colored glasses, for himself two stars and counting everythings good, real good. The oil war is going to line all Bush's bases pockets quite well whatever happens. God knows Ms Boxer isn't going to come looking for scalps, it's all good.
Petraeus' appearance before Congress was more of the same dog and pony show that Bush continues to use to sell his insane policy. It's another distraction and lest we lose our focus, the Democrats in Congress hold the majority and can shut this war down in a heartbeat with a "no-mo-money for no-mo-war" bill.
Those turncoat Democrats who continue to support the insanity known as Bush's policy for Iraq need to be taken out to the political woodshed and told to get their act together and vote along party lines on a bill to shut down the war using the power of the purse or suffer the consequences (there's another round of elections on the horizon). Better Democratic legislators suffer the consequences than those poor souls who are on their seventh and eighth tour of duty in Iraq sacrficing themselves (as Bill Moyer so aptly put ) "on the altar of Bush's ego".
How about a bill to create an international tribunal such as was done for Germany, the Nuremberg Tribunal. And we try those who started the Iraqi war for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This would at least begin to restore our moral standing in the world.
As my Senator , Ms Boxer emailed this message to me and I responded with a demand ( I'm way past polite request) to stop the funding ( yes folks thats the only alternative 'cause there aint enough votes ) if/when Bush vetoes another bill that has a timeline for withdrawl. That's what this voter demands - BACKBONE from you Demos for a fight with this charlaton of a President who's gonna dump the war in your laps in '08 regardless. So get some juevos and tell the American people why you can't give this Bozo another blank check and then follow thru - DAMMIT!
What I would like to know is why, since the vast majority of the American people oppose the war, and since this is a democracy, why can't the people we have sent to represent us stop the warmaking of Bush, and force a withdrawal from Iraq?
More than that I wonder why those representatives of oursd are allowing the Bush warmaking machine to crank up an attack on Iran.
Something is wrong here. Perhaps we really aren't a democracy after all?
Bush has mislead us about the role of generals in time of war. He keeps saying that generals, not politicians in Washington, will make decisions about what should be done. Absolutely wrong! Generals control armies. Armies can only do one thing: fight. If you ask a general to use what he has to solve a problem, his only possible option is to propose that he will continue to fight. If all you have in your hand is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
In reality, it precisely *is* the job of politicians in Washington to determine what tool to use and to determine what it is we are trying to accomplish. Petraeus cannot make such a decision. He can report on how well his army is doing what he asks it to do. The far more important question--which is not his to answer--is: what should we be doing and why?
Bush goes on tv and talks about "the enemy." He has to be generic because we don't even know who "the enemy" is. Who is our friend in Iraq and who is our enemy, and if we "win," what will that consist of? Petraeus is not the one to answer these questions.
The sad fact is that by "liberating" the Shiites in Iraq, we have strengthened Iran's hand. Why did we want to do that? What is the benefit to us of having a Shiite center of power in the Middle East? If that was our intention, then why not say so? Why all the propaganda and disinformation?
Bush's new "return on success" manages to put the onus on the backs of the soldiers. What a guy. Hey, if you chumps do your job right, we'll let you come home by Christmas. Of some year. Pitiful.
If democrats are truly anti-war they should make the members of their party accountable for their supposed mistake in voting for this war including funding the war. They should stop supporting all the democratic candidates like Edwards, Clinton, Biden, Obama and Dodd because they are the ones who voted and enabled Bush in this illegal war. Their supposed mistake have caused the death of 4,000 americans and over a million Iraqis.
General Patreaus is a soldier and is telling the Congress the way he thinks he can gain successes in Iraq. He is a commander of men who he will not desert under fire. He will not express weakness in the Armed Forces because, he will not aid the enemy while his men/women are on the frontline.
Bush will run this war the way he wants to. He is void of conscience, he put a FOR SALE sign on the country and a conspiring with his rich buddies in the purchase of those assets. The Bushies are betting on an Iraqi divide, or else how could Oil magnate Hunt carve out a private deal with the Kurds for oil. Does anyone know if the Iraqis voted for an timeline for withdrawal of American troops/ coalition forces when they had their elections?
Right on Barbara, if I recall correctly, you were one of the few voices as well as the lone vote against starting this war, turns out you were right! As the GOP 'burns in', and the erstwhile war supporters watch the rest of their credibility blow away, and the debt gets ratched up another couple notches thanks to BushCo fiscal brilliance, more and more people
are reviewing what's gone on these last several
years, and finding less and less to like about the whole situation.
You kind of have to wonder what the world would
look like today, if Bush had gone to Detroit right after all this happened, and charged our automakers with the task of building 40MPG multi-fuel cars. Why obsess on cars? Because
the FIRST time we played the OPEC game waay back in '73, Brazil showed just how much smarter they are than us. They saw the writing on the wall with the oil thing, and jumped trains right then and there. We've practically got oil companies in the white house and congress, which, to my view, is why we've got troops in Iraq. It's all about the $$$$$$$$$....
"We want to be seen as an army of liberation and not an army of occupation."
Bush and Petraeus want us to think of the U.S. presence in Iraq like the U.S. presence in France after the Battle of Normandy: as if we'd gone in out of necessity, nobly and generously, welcome and invited, to establish liberty and justice for all.
We didn't go in to establish democracy. We went in to control their oil by setting up a puppet government. We certainly didn't go in to fight AlQaeda, which wasn't there until after we invaded.
A better parallel would be if France had oil, so Germany invaded and set up the Vichy government to control it, and then ordered a "surge" to give the Vichy government time to stabilize the country. ...
Of course, in this comparison, we're Germany.
Americans must get one thing into their heads: the Iraq war is NOT the war on terror. It is Mr. Bush's war for whatever reason (maybe known to him; maybe known to Mr. Chaney but not to Mr. Bush). Once this simple, basic truth soaks in down to the toenails of every American (am I dreaming?), then the whole issue of getting out of Iraq is a nobrainer.
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