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Posted on Sunday, October 23, 2005
GUEST COMMENTARY
By George Miller
LAST WEEK'S vote on the Iraqi constitution was important, but it should not distract Americans from the real problems we face there.
Not only is the new constitution a divisive document that leaves most key political issues unsettled, but its approval will not slow the growth or influence of the deadly insurgency. It remains that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is not working now and it will not ever work. We must change course, and there is a way to do that.
While I voted for military action against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan after 9/11, I opposed the invasion of Iraq because there was no evidence to support President Bush's claim that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to our country.
My view at the time is supported today by the failure to find weapons of mass destruction or any link between Hussein and 9/11.
What was billed as a quick and decisive war is two and a half years old, with over 15,000 American soldiers wounded and 2,000 killed, and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars spent. Tragically, it is clear that there is no real plan for the war's successful end. Americans and Iraqis alike desperately need a strategy that will resolve the conflict, bring our troops home safely and quickly, and enable the United States to concentrate on real security threats. We cannot afford to simply "stay the course" of failure.
The failure in Iraq is rooted in its beginning, and the negative effects have mounted since.
The biggest strategic failure was not sending enough troops to complete the mission once the decision to go to war was made. This enabled the insurgency to thrive, undermined political and economic development and obliterated the Iraqi public's support for U.S. efforts. Adding more troops now will not solve the problem.
Success in Iraq will require fewer, not more, U.S. troops. Iraqi al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab Zarqawi claims that the U.S. occupation rallies the Iraqi people to support the insurgency and that without public support his terrorists would be "crushed in the shadows."
While that may sound self-serving, Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has said that the large U.S. troop presence "fuels the insurgency" and "extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant."
"The large U.S. presence also undermines popular support for the Iraqi government."
Georgetown University security expert Daniel Byman says that Iraqi politicians who depended on U.S. security for their survival "diminish (their) standing among nationalist Iraqis."
In addition, current U.S. strategy is a distraction from the larger war on terror, undermines military responses to other global hotspots, domestic threats and natural disasters, and undercuts military recruiting and re-enlistment.
We cannot achieve a military solution in Iraq, and the U.S. military knows it. Military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, said the insurgency "is not going to be settled, the terrorists and the terrorism in Iraq is not going to be settled, through military options or military operations."
All of this leads to the conclusion that the United States must restructure and redefine its role in Iraq now, moving away from the military-centric approach and toward a strategy that enhances political stability in Iraq and American security.
The United States should take the following steps.
Immediately renounce any permanent designs on Iraq's territory or resources, and plans for long-term bases there.
Stop financing Iraqi political parties and candidates.
Over the next 12 months, shift active duty forces in Iraq away from combat and counterinsurgency operations and toward a training and stability force.
Shift several thousand U.S. combat troops from Iraq to Kuwait in the form of a rapid reaction force to help ensure regional stability, deter Iraq's neighbors from meddling in its affairs and to protect against any coups to destabilize Iraq's new government.
The remaining active duty forces should be redeployed out of Iraq to bolster the fight against terrorism elsewhere or be returned home. Iraqi security forces must stand up on their own but will only do so when American forces withdraw.
Return to the United States the approximately 46,000 Guard and Reserve forces in Iraq immediately following the December elections.
Increase aid for democracy assistance that allows independent political growth.
Shift development aid in Iraq away from large projects undertaken by foreign contractors, like Halliburton, and toward microdevelopment locally oriented projects run by Iraqis.
President Bush must diplomatically engage all of Iraq's neighbors immediately, including, and most especially, Iran. Without their help on issues like border security there will be no stable future for Iraq.
The ill effects of having made the wrong decision to invade Iraq in the first place have been gravely compounded by poor planning and mismanagement since the invasion, resulting in a U.S. force viewed as an occupier -- not a liberator -- and a growing insurgency that threatens to drag the country from the ongoing low-level civil war into full-blown, countrywide, sectarian violence.
The president's call to simply "stay the course" is a desperate plea, not a solution.
Missteps have left us with few good options in Iraq. But, if we are to have any chance for success, and if we are to begin to limit American and Iraqi casualties, we must show the courage and wisdom to begin to change course now.
George Miller, D-Martinez, represents California's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is chairman of the House Democratic Policy committee.
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