Campaign Issue 1 - Iraq
Where else to start with my campaign platform than today's hottest issue - the war in Iraq.
At times when I hear the talking heads bluster and spin about the war, it becomes difficult to discern just who's telling the truth. And I suspect the only real way to find out the truth is to go to Iraq myself and ride around with some of the soldiers, meet the Iraqi people, get briefed by some of the commanders, etc.
Barring that for the time being, my campaign's policy on Iraq follows the party's mission: common sense above all.
Anti-war folks claim to be so based on a couple of basic arguments: We never should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, and now that we're there, there is no way we can win.
Doing my level best to consider those arguments from a logical point of view, I have to reach my own conclusions, as follows:
First, whether or not we should have gone into Iraq, the fact remains that we are there, Saddam has been removed from power, and we're well into a program of reconstruction and helping launch a new democratic government there. So to argue incessantly about whether we should have gone to war in the first place is irrelevant to today's situation. For this reason, I say we rededicate ourselves to finishing what we started and let the historians and political spinmeisters argue amongst themselves about whether it was a good idea.
Second, to suggest we cannot win in Iraq is perhaps the worst sort of anti-Americanism, and it troubles me that leaders of a major political party are suggesting such near-treasonous rhetoric. If we consider for even a moment how our nation's military, the absolute strongest and best in the world, could lose the war in Iraq, there can only be one way. That's if their country fails to support their mission. We all must honor and grieve the two thousand plus soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq. But we must also recognize that this is the price for freedom and security, not only for our own citizens, but for the free citizens of Iraq as well.
And to put it into perspective, these two thousand lost over three years is lower than the number of citizens murdered in Los Angeles over the same time period. Perhaps that issue deserves at least as much attention from a government policy perspective as our losses in Iraq. But that is a subject for another position paper to appear in this blog later.
Therefore, the policy of this presidency is an absolute commitment to finishing the job of helping to establish a free, open, stable democratic society in Iraq that is a shining example to their troubled region of the world of how free people are the happiest, safest, and most successful over all other repressive dictatorships, Islamist, socialist and communist societies. This doesn't mean continuing to do everything exactly as it has been done to date by the Bush Administration; in fact, every facet of the effort in Iraq will be continuously reviewed and monitored, with continuous improvements in tactics, weapons, and defenses implemented with speed and efficiency to help minimize casualties for both our troops and Iraqi civilians.
Our country will never fully leave Iraq, and we expect to maintain some presence there in the forseeable future. Not to dominate or intimidate, but to aid in their protection and maintain our alliance should another country in the region become belligerent to Iraq or the United States. Iran and Syria, Iraq's two neighbors which are also avowed enemies of the United States, and by extension Iraq, both must be held in check by our continued vigilant presence in Iraq.
There are already signs that President Bush's long-term vision of peace and freedom for the entire middle eastern region is just now beginning to take hold. Progress is being made in the Israeli-Paletinian conflict, Libya has renounced their WMD programs, Lebanon has kicked the Syrians out of their country, and Iranian citizens are beginning to agitate for freedom from their extremist Mullah-controlled government.
At a minimum, seeing this conflict through to its conclusion will result in establishing a friendly and reasonably stable Iraq. But we will reach for more through our continued presence and diplomacy throughout the region, continually cajoling Iraq's neighbors into joining a peaceful and free world community.
At times when I hear the talking heads bluster and spin about the war, it becomes difficult to discern just who's telling the truth. And I suspect the only real way to find out the truth is to go to Iraq myself and ride around with some of the soldiers, meet the Iraqi people, get briefed by some of the commanders, etc.
Barring that for the time being, my campaign's policy on Iraq follows the party's mission: common sense above all.
Anti-war folks claim to be so based on a couple of basic arguments: We never should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, and now that we're there, there is no way we can win.
Doing my level best to consider those arguments from a logical point of view, I have to reach my own conclusions, as follows:
First, whether or not we should have gone into Iraq, the fact remains that we are there, Saddam has been removed from power, and we're well into a program of reconstruction and helping launch a new democratic government there. So to argue incessantly about whether we should have gone to war in the first place is irrelevant to today's situation. For this reason, I say we rededicate ourselves to finishing what we started and let the historians and political spinmeisters argue amongst themselves about whether it was a good idea.
Second, to suggest we cannot win in Iraq is perhaps the worst sort of anti-Americanism, and it troubles me that leaders of a major political party are suggesting such near-treasonous rhetoric. If we consider for even a moment how our nation's military, the absolute strongest and best in the world, could lose the war in Iraq, there can only be one way. That's if their country fails to support their mission. We all must honor and grieve the two thousand plus soldiers who have lost their lives in Iraq. But we must also recognize that this is the price for freedom and security, not only for our own citizens, but for the free citizens of Iraq as well.
And to put it into perspective, these two thousand lost over three years is lower than the number of citizens murdered in Los Angeles over the same time period. Perhaps that issue deserves at least as much attention from a government policy perspective as our losses in Iraq. But that is a subject for another position paper to appear in this blog later.
Therefore, the policy of this presidency is an absolute commitment to finishing the job of helping to establish a free, open, stable democratic society in Iraq that is a shining example to their troubled region of the world of how free people are the happiest, safest, and most successful over all other repressive dictatorships, Islamist, socialist and communist societies. This doesn't mean continuing to do everything exactly as it has been done to date by the Bush Administration; in fact, every facet of the effort in Iraq will be continuously reviewed and monitored, with continuous improvements in tactics, weapons, and defenses implemented with speed and efficiency to help minimize casualties for both our troops and Iraqi civilians.
Our country will never fully leave Iraq, and we expect to maintain some presence there in the forseeable future. Not to dominate or intimidate, but to aid in their protection and maintain our alliance should another country in the region become belligerent to Iraq or the United States. Iran and Syria, Iraq's two neighbors which are also avowed enemies of the United States, and by extension Iraq, both must be held in check by our continued vigilant presence in Iraq.
There are already signs that President Bush's long-term vision of peace and freedom for the entire middle eastern region is just now beginning to take hold. Progress is being made in the Israeli-Paletinian conflict, Libya has renounced their WMD programs, Lebanon has kicked the Syrians out of their country, and Iranian citizens are beginning to agitate for freedom from their extremist Mullah-controlled government.
At a minimum, seeing this conflict through to its conclusion will result in establishing a friendly and reasonably stable Iraq. But we will reach for more through our continued presence and diplomacy throughout the region, continually cajoling Iraq's neighbors into joining a peaceful and free world community.
posted by Dan S. at 10:45 AM
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