About a year ago, just after the first anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War, I wrote that I was starting a club. The idea was to give voice to a perspective that isn’t usually heard in this era of extreme, blindly partisan politics where you’re tossed into either one camp or another – and you’re expected to stay in your assigned seats.
In order to join the club, I explained, you had to support President Bush – but you also had to believe that it was time for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to head back to the private sector.
You had to support the war – either because you believed that Saddam Hussein was a bloodthirsty tyrant who had to go, or because you thought it was a noble cause to liberate an oppressed people and turn a former dictatorship into a functioning democracy – but you also had to be of the opinion that the Bush administration has mismanaged the war six ways from Sunday.
The idea was a hit with readers. Apparently, there are a lot of Americans who don’t feel comfortable being characterized as 100 percent in support of Bush and the war, or 100 percent against Bush and the war. And as a result, they feel totally lost in the Iraq debate.
Granted, at times, it seems like more of a food fight. Opposing camps of placard-waving protesters are squaring off outside the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas – either to show support for “gold star mom”/protester Cindy Sheehan, or to tell the world “You don’t speak for me, Cindy.” The traditional political alliances are fraying; it used to be only dovish liberals were disappointed with Rumsfeld. But now that the defense secretary seems to be looking for an exit door in Iraq, some hawkish conservatives may also be anxious to see him go.
And as the number of U.S. military casualties in Iraq approaches 2,000, public support for the war, and the president’s handling of it, is on the skids.
This month, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found that 57 percent of Americans thought that the war had made the country more vulnerable to terrorism. Asked about the progress of the war, 56 percent said things were going badly while only 43 percent thought that things were going well.
So I think it’s time to start a new club. In order to join, you have to believe that the war protesters – many of whom, I’m sorry to say, seem reminiscent of the “Blame America First” crowd – are flat-out wrong in their foolish and irresponsible demand that the United States immediately withdraw from Iraq. Not only would that mean that nearly 2,000 service men and women had died in vain, but it’s also a sure recipe for complete chaos. A pullout would embolden terrorists around the world, and inform our enemies that the American people have no stomach for long and sustained military conflicts.
Yet, you also have to believe that those flag-waving folks who won’t admit the failings of our Iraq policy and who simply stick to the script of “stay the course” are being just as foolish and irresponsible. They should be more willing to accept that – as they say in Washington – mistakes were made.
Among them: Not sending enough troops in the first place, and caving in to the assumption that a larger commitment of manpower was not politically feasible; allowing the outrageous behavior that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison, which ensured that Americans would never win the hearts and minds of Iraqis; and overestimating the ease with which Iraqi security forces could be trained by U.S. troops to protect the country so our troops could eventually leave.
I understand that there are those who don’t want to dwell on such things and instead, simply rally around the president and the war. But when they do that, they’re only doing a disservice to themselves and their cause.
We shouldn’t ignore the polls or blame them on war fatigue.
Americans are saying loud and clear that, while they don’t favor an immediate and complete withdrawal from Iraq – that position was embraced by only about a third of respondents – they are fed up with the lack of a clear policy objective, let alone any sense that the objective is being met. They don’t want to cut and run, but they do want results.
If that sounds like where you’re coming from, then join the club.
