Request for input, if you care to offer it...

[Orrex]

In another debating forum one participant recently complained, correctly, that our arguments about Iraq had deteriorated to simple "stay the course" vs. "Bush is an idiot" without either side offering any useful insights or suggestions about how to proceed. With this in mind I prepared a list that I reproduce here in full, and I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback. Here goes:

Here are a few thoughts--not sure how feasible they are, and some will require
greater diplomacy than is currently available to the administration.

1. Get rid of Bush.
His handling of this entire debacle has been nightmarishly inept and short-sighted. His removal would go a long way toward demonstrating that we have recognized his many errors and are willing to pursue a course different from the madness he initiated.

2. Apologize for our mistakes to date.
Should be self-evident, but it hasn’t happened so far.

3. State our mission goals clearly.
Why did we start this war? All of the reasons given to date have been shown to be false, so it looks more and more like our intent is just to kill as many Muslims as we can. If we have another objective in mind, we should declare it concretely, and we should articulate a means by which we may objectively assess our success or failure. An exit strategy would also be helpful, as would a rough timeframe so that it does not appear to be a deliberately eternal war.

4. Eliminate all “crusade” overtones.
That means Boykin and his ilk must be formally censured. That means that everyone who refers to “our God” or “their God” in the context of this stupid war must be formally censured. It means that any serviceman or woman who desecrates a Quran must be formally censured. It means that every public official involved in the conflict must act and speak with courtesy and consideration of the differences at play here. Our blindness makes our national egocentrism indistinguishable from deliberate hostility toward other cultures.

5. Act with humility.
It’s bad enough that we lied to get into this war. Dubya’s subsequent arrogance (and that of his subordinates) has made it impossible to hold the so-called “Coalition” together, and it certainly hasn’t made us any new friends in the aftermath of the invasion.

6. Remove corporate profit as an incentive in the theater.
In a true Free market this might not be a problem, but we’re nowhere near that market, and government-santioned corporate corruption, waste, and theft are rampant. Since this was an unprovoked (and, some argue, an illegal war), the subsequent profiteering only makes the war seem more obviously in the service of corporate greed. Corporate involvement, if any, should be 100% transparent and 100% accountable. A for-profit war is nothing but corporate-run mass murder.

7. Allow broader access to reconstruction contracts.
Though France and Germany opposed our initiation of the war, they shouldn’t be excluded from the bidding process if they have something to offer. Narrowing the field to only those who were cajoled into joining our war makes it seem that the war was intended for (generally American) corporate profit.

8. Secure the assistance of Arab nations.
This requires more diplomacy than we have, I know. Arab nations have been largely excluded from the shaping and rebuilding of post-war Iraq, and our continued failure to appreciate the extant cultural differences makes their exclusion all the more costly and apparent. Additionally, the inclusion of Arab nations would further demonstrate that this is not a war to put the middle east under US rule.

9. Hand over the reins.
Despite providing the overwhelming majority of military forces, we are clearly unable to manage the disaster we have wrought. If we truly are part of a Coalition rather than an Empire (with a few lackey nations), we should be willing to submit to the authority of another power. No other nation would necessarily command US forces, but the US would not be in charge of the whole quagmire.

10. Let them choose the government that they want.
Dubya and co. endlessly prattle that “Freedom is on the March” and “We’re sowing the seeds of Democracy.” That’s all crappy sloganeering. If we really respect the freedom that we pretend to have given these people, we should support no candidate, we should offer no rules of our own, and we should clearly not object if the resultant government is entirely contrary to our wishes. Otherwise we are clearly showing our disdain for freedom and for another nation’s sovereignty.

11. Do something about Israel.
No, Israel’s not 100% wrong in all things, and yes, Palestinians are not without blood on their hands, either. But if we had to pick one thing (other than cultural imperialism (as opposed to militaristic imperialism)) that enflames Arab rage against the US, it’s our unwavering support of Israel no matter how many children they murder or Palestinian families they evict or walls they build. If we’d only step up and say that Israel has sometimes acted inappropriately and without matched provocation, we’d increase our credibility markedly. And we should require them to return our nukes, too.

Just a few thoughts. Not sure how workable (or insightful) they are, but it seemed better to inject them into that discussion rather than continue in the "is not" vs "is, too" static as we had been doing.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[FloridaPat]

1. Soounds good.

[AllegroRondo]

2. Must get rid of Rumsfeld as well

[crispini]

3. Great list!

And, I honestly think that impeaching Shrub for this fake war would go a long way to mending fences and shoring up our reputation in the world community.