Dems were elected to Congress in large part because of dissatisfaction with the Iraq war. They can’t do much about it, other than de-fund it, but if they do that they’ll be accused of not supporting the troops.
I think Dems can avoid at least that charge if they get serious about taking care of the troops. Pass a bill aimed at buying every service member in Iraq full body armor, including the Small Arm Protective Inserts (aka SAPIs or ceramic plates that fit in the flak vest) and the best helmets and liners. Accelerating the up-armored vehicles, Hummers and Rhinos, would help, as would buying a bunch more Warlocks, ICEs and the like. (Those are devices to detect explosive devices and either jam signals or cause them to explode out of range.) Double the number of Special Forces.
Up-funding the VA wouldn’t hurt, either. I returned from Iraq in November 05, went to the VA medical center in January 06, and set up my first appointment, the earliest I could get it, for September 06. I’ll be going in for diagnostics in late December. If I need any procedures, no doubt they’ll be sometime in 07. So yes, the VA is underfunded to help our returning troops.
Having then shown that they support actual troops instead of corporations on no-bid contracts, the Dems would have more freedom to modify our course of action in Iraq.
And BTW, I’m still in favor of Go Big, I’d just Go Way Big Then Go Home. 20,000 more troops are not enough. 200,000 are more like it. Seal the borders. Stop doing presence patrols that just make us targets; stick to quick reaction forces and raids. Capture the militia leaders, including Muqtada al Sadr, and get them out of business. Hold the Iraqi political, military and police leaders accountable for action, even if it means installing someone new. Who cares if we’re accused of subverting their democratic process; they don’t have one to subvert.
1 comment:
I agree with you, Dems need to show that they are the ones who actually care about troops. Ensuring that troops have SAPI plates is one example. Also, while W has been paying lip service to taking care of vets, his administration has been cutting the overall funding for the VA. I would hope Dems would reverse that trend, quickly.
I fully support Go Big, then Go Home. PPPP menat the Iraqis never had a chance to stabilize. Creating a democracy out of a nation as Saddam's Iraq would have been difficult under any circumstances. Building a concensus in the middle of a civil war is like trying to build an airplane while it's in flight. Lock it down, clean militias out of the security forces, then train the remainder might give them a fighting chance to survive.
Dean
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