A new book published by the #2 Iraqi Air Force general, General Georges Sada, has alreadt stated that the chemical WMD components were sold to Syria in 2002, and transported in 38 civilian aircraft flights with the seats removed in yellow metal barrels with poison markings that went absolutely undetected by American intelligence sources despite spy satellites able to read an automobile license plate from outer space.

Neither the failure of the Bush era intelligence sources or the continued Democratic views of this major failure in American intelligence seem to benefit at all from these revelations of an Iraqi general who made major military decisions for the military of Saddam Hussein.

However, it should be noted in another issue that with the destabilization of Iraq since the Iraq War and elections in Iran, Palestine and Iraq that didn't turn out well for U.S. interests in the region, any withdrawal of a U.S. presense in Iraq in the near ture will only slide the state more towards militia abuses or more religious control, or towards more involvement of Iran in undermining the state.

Given the increasingly volatile situation with Muslim "cartoon" riots in many states, and increased friction between the Muslim and Western worlds, it is very difficult to figure the proper course of the U.S. in the Iraq region at this point, without further creating more destabilization.

Some sort of a peace conference call between major Islamic and WEstern leaders would seem to be a better proposal to call for at this point, and any major changes to the military or Iraq policy very carefully constructed at this point so as not to encourage more regional destabilization of the MidEast.

Some may think that Iraq is the major MidEast concern of the U.S. right now. It is not. Preventing a slow slide towards WWIII with a massive Muslim world vs. Western world conflict should be the primary concern.

PROGRESSIVE VALUES

You can pass this around:

Picture from BBC: ABRAMOFF with BUSH

This is not a "Photo-OP" picture. You'll have to scroll down to find it.

This is Abramoff as a member of Bush's Presidential Transition Team in November of 2000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/americas/1046979.stm

Text from the BBC page:
"Cabinet in waiting
As Mr Gore pursues efforts to court public opinion, Governor Bush has been assembling his cabinet, although he has so far stopped short of calling himself president-elect.

He has already set up a transitional team, headed by vice-presidential running mate Dick Cheney.
And his campaign team has moved its operations from the Bush headquarters in Texas, to be closer to the centre of federal government in Washington.
Mr Cheney is seeking private capital to finance the work, after what he called the "regrettable" refusal of the civil service administration to release funds.

The civil service has also refused to give the keys of the transition offices to the Republican team, on the grounds that - three weeks after the vote - there is still no clear presidential winner."

The invasion and occupation was and continues to be a terrible crime. Until the Democrats unify and demand the IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL of all troops from Iraq and NO MORE BOMBING the Demos will be percieved as Bush's lapdogs. Get a clue, you guys! My vote will never go to any pro-war candidate. "Strategic redeployment" is simply another example of the Democratic strategy of "Wherever the neocon Republicans lead, the donkeys shall follow, braying, but following".

Help a Liberal Democrat beat Joe Lieberman:

http://www.nedlamont.com/

Not just Connecticut residents should pay attention to the primary contest between Lamont and Joe "I'm Not On The Road to Nowhere - I Am Nowhere" Lieberman. This is a race that all liberal and progressive Democrats have a stake in. As long as the DLC darling Joe Lieberman holds that seat, it is rented to Republicans.

Show at least symbolic opposition to the Lieberman and the rest of the Reagan Democrats who have taken over our party in the guise of the Democratic Leadership Council. Give a symbolic $12 (the twelfth letter of the alphabet...for "Liberal") to the Lamont campaign, and then give an additional donation of what you can afford:

https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/9354

Dump Joe Lieberman!!!

If you don't like the Republican plan of War Profiteering, and politics of fear, vote for the Good Ol' Solid Democrats instead of the Good Ol' Boys Club?

I think the Iraqis have their own plan. They are going to tell us to get out and then sue for damages in the World Court.

What will become of our four new "permanent" military bases? They will become the new Abu Graibe prisons where the Shiite extract their revenge on the Sunnis. What a waste of time, effort, and blood.

I'm not sure if strategic redeployment will work unless we can buy an island in the Indian Ocean like the Brits have for an airstrip and permanent base. With all the outsourcing business we are throwing to the Indians, they owe us a nice real estate deal.

The fundamentalist Muslims will not tolerate any Christian military presence in any Moslum country. Don't get caught up in the occupation trap the Republicans created.

Let's withdrawal to a neutral corner and retool our military as a new kind of high-tech strike force that doesn't need to get bogged down in local skirmishes.

And don't let the Republicans off the hook on the whole torture issue. They crossed the line with Gonzales' arguments and have issolated us from the rest of the ... it's the only way to regain our reputation and credibility.

Some sort of a peace conference call between major Islamic and WEstern leaders would seem to be a better proposal to call for at this point, and any major changes to the military or Iraq policy very carefully constructed at this point so as not to encourage more regional destabilization of the MidEast.

Posted by PaulHooson on February 21, 2006 at 12:03 PM

The Arab League has been offering its plan for peace in the Middle East for ages and the West has never listened to them. But asking them to host such a conference might be a real step in the right direction.

Palestine must become a nation equal to Israel. Nothing less will create peace in the Middle East...or Iraq. You're right. Either we make it happen somehow, or we have WWIII.

Bush has destablilzed the whole region which had been sitting on a powder keg for several generations. He lit the fuse.

I don’t know much about this conflict and there is much information out there on it. I just have two questions.

1) Were the Arab People given the opportunity to decide which government would rule the Gaza Strip and West Bank?

2) Could they not decide on some form of bilateral government for all of Israel? Has this even been considered?

Iraq is already escalating to the point where we can't handle it. See the news this morning?
If the destruction of the holiest Sufi mosque isn't the opening round in a full-scale Iraqi civil(read holy) war, I'm gonna sure be surprised.
We either need to get the flock outta Dodge or bring in a UN coalition that includes other Muslim countries to try to settle things down. (Good luck on that option as long as Bush is in charge) The third course would be a few thousand novenas to Saint Jude Thaddeus, to lobby for God's intervention. St. Jude being the patron saint of things impossible.
Was control of the oil industry really worth all this? We are being governed by a bunch of sociopaths.
IMPEACH BUSH!!!!

See! We have plan after plan at least one a week on different issues? Why can't the Republicans see or hear this? This plan is the best I have heard of. Kerry had a great plan way early in the war in Iraq, but noone picked up on it? Why don't even some Democrats pick up on these great plans our best Officials are creating? Even other Democrats could have some input on them by making suggestions for improving the plan?

I am surprised that noone has taken up the hue and cry over Haliburton(Bush company)sold our troops in Iraq raw sewerage from the Euphrates.
This is altogether too hideous. Many in my area say this war was about oil; I say it is about the U. S. Treasury, and 'W' has had fun raping it.
tikicat

VoterDouglas, Have you done any investigation in favor of Democrats? We don't need Republicans giving us unity advise? I don't think they have our best interest at heart. I would like to hear some postive suggestions from our brightest and best Democrats! All I know, that all the wars entered while Democrats were in charge turned out successful. Even Vietnam that we were so afraid to withdraw turned out postive! Our Democrats could turn this Iraq war into a success if we were in charge?

I suppose every frustrated Democrat is imagining the perfect theme with which to mount the perfect campaign against the Administration. It occurs to me, given the simple fact that everything Bush has touched has turned to...well, you know...that what we are facing now is nothing more or less than a failed presidency.

Good For You RPK, Keep Up The Good Investigation and Deeds for Democrats! COME ON BABY LETS DO THE TWIST, LET US TWIST OUR WAY INTO THE MAJORITY IN CONGRESS AND SENATE AND TWIST OUR WAY INTO THE WHITEHOUSE IN '08?

We cannot withdraw all the troops from Iraq for two reasons:

1) Politically. The Republicans will accuse us of cutting and running. (No American life is worth risking for political standing, but there is a real reason why we must leave some troops in Iraq.)

2) As difficult as this may be to hear, we need to leave some troops in Iraq because they will have to act as the canary in the coal mine. For a quick-strike force to be effective, there has to be boots on the ground in order to know what is going on. One example of this may be the Sunnis need for help against death squads operating under the cover of some psuedo government agency.

I hate to see yet another 20-something American lose their life over this f-bomb'ing mess in Iraq, but we can't leave completely. We have to be there in order to have any idea of how close Iraq is to falling into a full blown civil war.

If we completely pull out of Iraq and set-up shop in Kuwait we will not have any idea first hand of what is going on on the ground. Sure we'll have our share of paid informants, but didn't they help get us into this mess in the first place?

We need troops near major population areas so people who are being threatened or persecuted might be able to contact the American soldiers, who can then act directly or interact with the troops in Kuwait to resolve the issue.

This should be a small contingent of troops. Maybe 2500 in each of the 3 major Iraqi provinces.

Off on a tangent here...

I would like to see some type of American presence, but preferably not with young soldiers. I would prefer to have somewhat older Americans with military experience being the boots on the ground. How we get 50+ year old Americans with military experience to go into Iraq is beyond me.

Older Americans in Iraq? How about Bush, Cheney, their apointees, and all the Republican legislators in Washington for a start. They know everything there is to know about fighting a war and govering Iraq. If you don't believe it, ask them. ;-p

Butte, Thanks for lightning up the thread. I needed that.

Let's see real leadership take us toward a cooperative, responsible stance as partner with European, Latin American, African, Mid-Eastern, and Asian nations, working together to solve the serious environmental and economic problems confronting the world as a whole. And let's see the Demos take a strong stand against the abrogation of human rights, both domestically and abroad.
The Democrats threw the 1968 election by running Hunphry instead of McCarthy. Repeated the mistake by running Kerry (pro-war Bush lite) in 2004. "Strategic redeployment" is a unilateral militaristic plan to keep the gravy pouring to the corrupt war contractors, and we voters know that. This Bush lite plan was designed by Lawrence Korb, a Reaganite. Until the Demos begin thinking on their own and offer an alternative to the "all the world is America's backyard and the American people must bear the burden of conquer and control" they'll only gain the confidence of those who already vote Republican anyway.

At some point the decision needs to be made as to whether another American soldier must die for the cause of "stability" in an absolute unstable region which shows no signs of getting any better with or without our military presence. The Rethugs keep doing their best to paint this as another aspect of the war on terror. All that will leave us with is a perpetual war, one with no end and just a fleeting memory of why it started.

What we are faced with for the future is having to ask a global community that bush has spit on to join us in persuading the Middle East that a change towards stability needs to happen now or else the entire region will fall victim to a mass genocide at their own hands while the rest of the world watches.

All the troops need to be pulled out now regardless of what that means for the future of Iraq. The future of our military needs to be put first. If our withdrawal does indeed result in at least a lull in some of the chaos, that may provide us and the world with an opportunity to at least bring reasonable proposals for the better of the region. If it fails, well then the Middle East will continue on its apparent desired path of self-destruction.

But American lives must come first. We've lost too many for such a non-existant cause. Failure to get our troops out now would only put them in further danger when Iraq's imminent civil war completely blows up. What we will find is our military caught in the middle of two sides with the insurgents hitting us on all sides.

There is a big difference between hating Muslims and not wanting to do business with a company owned by a governemtn which has often supported terrorists orgtanizations and shows no change in its policies in that regard.
We have also caved into the Chinese Communists to the point of allowing them to cheat on their trade agreements and buy up our debt. They too have shown no change in their traditional attitude about destroying us.
The bottom line is that we, and this administration in particular, has been soft on national security, placing corporate profit over the interests of the safety and well being of the American people and it needs to stop, like yesterday.
Don't fall for Bushie spin, look at the real issues.

Do you think Republicans will stop saying: "Democrats don't have any plans just complaints?" Many Democrats have been reminding Republicans just how many plans Democrats have had since the beginning of the War in Iraq. They started calling for an exit plan in about three months into the war in Iraq! When they could see that the killing wasn't going to stop, the Democrats suggested we put many more troops in Iraq than the Bush Administration had! This plan of Democrats were designed to stop the corruption in the contracts and to stop the insurgency from killing our troops. But the Republicans decided to show American troops weren't a real threat to the insurgency by fewer troops, in the hopes it would stop the sucide and Humbey's bombings? It didn't do either. They are still killing our troops. The Republicans are still fighting with fewer troops and the killing of our troops continues? Maybe the people will put us in the majority and we can win the conflict and save lives. We Democrats have a good chance all the more famous military men and many of the people have said they will support us in the elections. All we talked to said, they have learned not to believe the scorched Earth tactics against our Democrat Candidates. So
many that voted against Democrats in the last three elections said, "Never again will they believe the Republicans because they have done the opposite of what they promised."
This new plan looks like an excellant plan?

Democrats should be at odds with the Republican War Machine. Jesus is PEACE and PEACE should be the Christian way. Dean Democrats want a strong military to be used for protection of the United States; but not for squashing smaller countries to make money for the warring Military Industrial Complex, empire building and deleting all monies to the rest of society in the United States.

Dean Democrats must be for PEACE with STRENGTH and JUSTICE. Jesus is for PEACE, promoted PEACE and left us PEACE [John 14:27]; so REAL followers of Jesus will not make decisions based on lies for WAR; and definitely would never proudly proclaim a "SHOCK and AWE ATTACK" on a helpless defenseless country like Iraq as the un-Christian like Bush Administration did.

WAR does not bring PEACE; but it does bring empire for the warring country with death, poverty and destruction of the country being warred upon. It is pitiful what our country has done to Iraq; but the Iraqis could somehow pull their act together if the United States would completely get out of their affairs, except upon request. And that doesn't mean United States manipulated requests.

The Bush administration likes to run down Sadaam Hussein, and what he did was not good; but the Bush Administration has done more to harm Iraq and the Iraqis than Sadaam Hussein could have done if he had lived and ruled another 100 years or more. It is unbelievable how bad the United States has destroyed that poor country. The same goes for Afghanistan.

Peace can only be brought through diplomacy. When will the United States seek diplomacy? We need diplomats and the diplomats will have to come from the LEFT because the RIGHT only wants to WAR.

Ok, that's great. They have a plan. Do they mind sharing it with the rest of us? Because it's a lot like me saying "I've discovered the secret to cold fusion, but I'm not telling."

I would like to see anything in writing before I can believe it from any party.

Also, the Holy Bible says in Psalms 122:6 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee."

This is not talking about us making or helping to make and manipulating WAR in the Middle East.

Psalms 122:

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethern and companions' sake, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the LORD our GOD I will seek thy good."

Even though I have not seen the nine-page report and especially if Iraq goes into a civil war, I think this direction is still a good idea. I would think that anyone who cares about the PEOPLE of the Middle East, not to mention those of us tired of looking like the Ugly American and worried about our reputation in the world, would want to be heard and would listen with the hope of adding their ideas. So I think they should get the backing for a start of a plan from as many experts in this arena as possible. The truth of the matter is that not being in power, most of this has to be done behind closed doors at this point. So the job is left to the grunts, We the People.

Whatever the Democratic Party is planning in general should be out in the open air now! Not in a campaign manor but as calm, non-hysterical solid statesmen of this party, stating our wishes for the future of America.

If that is not possible then go to plan B. The Party should get themselves a phrase man and on every error of this Administration STAMP IT!:

And maybe bloggers should start closing their comments with a favorite slogan as a sign of solidarity and that the left hand does know what the right hand is doing. In fact everyone knows:

We could do better!: Even a liberal Democrat could do better.
Tired of reading those pesky reports like 911 and Katrina, Vote Democrat.
WE WILL act on the lessons learned in the past 5+ years.
Delay the end of DeLay by giving him a better job????
If Congress said that’s illegal, just put it behind the curtain and call it something else.
Democrats are known for their love of diversity, so:
It’s not Arabs Stupid. It’s Security!
Just doing what Regan said, “Trust but verify!”
First the White House now the ports.
Check out e-bay for the new revised constitution at reduced price.
It’s behind curtain #1!

Sorry, I seem to have gotten off track.

Response to Martha: brian111's response to your idea is beautiful. As to psalms; let the streets, homes, gardens, and wild spaces be blessed both in Jerusalem and Fallujah with peace, as well as in Pine Ridge, Rwanda, Guantánamo, Caracas, and New Orleans, and everywhere else around this precious globe. You’re right Martha that this war isn’t the answer, it’s the problem, but reason justifies your position, whether you rely upon the scriptures of the Jews, Christians, Moslems, Buddhists, Taoists, Marxists, Tea Leave Readers, Shintos, others or not.
As to concrete plans: let’s recognize that the neocon/neoliberal economic paradigm is right at this moment destroying the lives of the vast majority of humans and other species. Our ever "growing" commerce eats all of value and defecates global warming, mass poverty, universal terrorism. Concrete plans about the future of our world cannot be decided upon by one political party in the USA because the US population is 5% of the world’s population. Even in case of an unlikely 100% consensus of the American people, whether Republicrat or Demopublican, the US is still no more than 5% of all us humble humans. We must find national leadership realistic enough to accept this fact, or we’ll go the way of the Egyptians, Romans, Aztecs, the Holy Church, the British Empire, the Nazis. Any current political party unable to face this basic reality is incapable of confronting the urgent crises we now face.
Again, concretely: Arrogance enshrouded in concrete plans (invasions, enduring military bases, occupations, torture camps) is exactly what has led to the increasing slaughter of innocents, and form new training grounds for fundamentalist religious enemies of democracy both at home and abroad. The leadership of the United States of America must recognize that we US citizens are 5% of humanity, and openly invite us voters to sanely, reasonably find ways to cooperate with and benefit from cooperation with the rest of the world. Nationalist arrogance enshrined in “concrete plans for --any place outside of the US--” is suicide.
Please remember, the topic here is the Demo plan of “strategic redeployment”, which, the way this plan is written, will only reaffirm to the other 95% of the people with whom we share this planet that the American people who say they oppose the neocon Bush adventure are incapable of thinking globally.

Here are some exceptional websites for informative research confirming Professor David Ray Griffins research in his book "The New Pearl Harbor" and in reference to ending the War in Iraq:

First is the link to the website of Professor Richard Falk who is Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice at Princeton University and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Professor Falk's website is devoted to advice for The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) and includes many links to various informative articles by Professor Falk about Iraq, ending the War in Iraq, The War System, etc.:

http://www.transnational.org/tff/people/r_falk.html

This next web site is Dr. Chalmers Johnson's website about the American Empire Project. Dr. Johnson has a B.A., M.A., and PhD degrees in economics and political science from the University of California, Berkeley:

http://www.americanempireproject.com/johnson/index.asp

This last link is to Professor emeritus Richard Falk's website for his foreword to Professor emeritus David Ray Griffin's exceptional work in his book "The New Pearl Harbor".

http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2004/Falk_GriffenForeword.html

Also, here are the links Professor David Ray Griffin's websites:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8765.html

http://www.unknowncountry.com/dreamland?id=241

Re: Klein Democrats Unite

It’s heartening to hear that the Democrats are pulling together to find their unified voice on the greatest tragedy for Americans since the civil war. God Bless Murtha, Meeghan and especially Kerry.

The Democrats need to talk to truth to America, and it may not increase their popularity over the near term. They still need to talk to truth.

The Iraq war cost Americans greater than 2000 lives and greater than 16,000 wounded men and women, family members. We have not seen the full cost yet. The gain? Americans are on an assault against an unknown and unseen enemy. Americans are lashing out. The administration has other motives for being in Iraq less emotional, more strategic for their own self-interests. Oil is the big fish in this ocean. The administration has no intellectual strength in its cabal.

The Democrats should tell Americans the truth. We, the collective voter, have made it possible for the new and different terrorists not of 9/11/01 to kill 2000 American citizens and wound 3 times plus more. To benefit what? Saddam Hussein was contained. He was a necessary evil. We took him out and are now dealing with a void that could be filled with worse fanaticism, creating a condition for the fanaticism to look more attractive to the Arab community than George Bush’s democratic way.

Because we are there we have caused more American deaths and wounds than needed to be. We are close to surpassing the evil that Al Qaeda did to us. This administration admits that we are no safer today than we were on 9/10/01, and it has cost us dearly to move nowhere. They hope Americans believe that if we did not go there, the terrorists would have struck here. That is not a reality based in fact. It’s their disingenuous politics. Americans’ fear is their security blanket.

The American people were led by and followed a bad presidency. So be it. Let the Democratic past policies of containment of evil, domestic agendas, sacrifices of those who have gained the most for those who are stuck in a circle going nowhere (poor, struggling middle class) come back to the decision making table. Let the Democrats compare where Americans were in 1998 to where they are now in 2006. Are we better off? That’s not likely to be proven true.

Enough is enough. Let’s bring them back.

Be scared, be very scared. Then email, write, call, whatever all your legislators, leaders of both parties, and let them know that you are scared, betrayed, pissed off, etc.
Hearing from one person will not get politicians off of dead center, hearing from a whole slew of pissed off voters will get some results.
Politicians need to be kick-started, and since this is a legislative election year, we do have some clout.

If I was a terrorist, I would agree with this idea too. Let the terriorist know when we are leaving. Wait until the US forces were out of the region and move back in.. thank God we dont have howard dean and the Dems in charge,, Geez

Progressive227,

If Democrats return to power, withdraw all the troops from Iraq and Iraq falls into a civil war that winds up with a theocracy similar to and with close ties to Iran, Democrats will be kicked out of office, wander the political wilderness, and not regain power for another 50 years.

In case you haven't noticed Iraq is already in a civil war, which is being fueled by the presence of US military. As long as US and not Iraqi forces holding up the present government, the leaders of the various coalitions can tell their followers that the current government of Iraq is not the true government of the country and only a colonial puppet regime.
Notice that the plan doesn't call for pulling our military personnel totally our of the area. They will still be close enough to be able to respond if and when they need to.
The Iraqi government must at least try to stand on its own feet and be supported by its own military if they are to gain credibility among Iraqi citizens.
It's certainly a better plan than the Bush administration's plan to keep supporting Halliburton for the next three years while our people die.

I have not seen this plan but think that just about anyting is better than what we have in place now.

http://azlib.blogspot.com/

First colonial Brits made Iraq, a country that never could have existed on its own without an iron fist and bloodshed. Then, years later Prince George and his radical Cabal tragically destroyed its infrastructure and ignorantly hoped for good things to happen as a result.

Now we as democrats might be failing again to see the real cancer here at the core of Iraq.

This country will escalate its current civil war(s) whenever we leave. Eventually it will become Iran 2. The best thing we can do is:

1. Bring sect leaders together and immediately try to hammer out some sort of peace accord. This is not the answer, it's just a document to guide the next steps. Read on..

2. Re-regionalize the country and divide the oil revenue. When people fight with such ferocity, separate them. With a peace accord in hand fracturing the country into sectarian territories would effectively undo the original framework of the British Colonialists who created this unsustainable country. Sounds glum, but so does 50 to 100 years of suicide bombs and skirmishes. Furthermore, dividing a violent society helps to minimize its danger to its neighbors.

3. Reward with aid rather than punish with bombs. With international aid as a motivator, use the U.N. to spell out guidelines to reward or restrict aid in the form of sanctions to the various groups. It has worked all over the world and it will work again. And it doesn't kill our troops.

4. Finally, distance ourselves from the radical doctrine of the Bushfeldeneyroves. Re-establish our credibility with our allies and the world. Use calm voices and diplomacy always, while making no apologies about having strength.

5. Lets shock and awe the world with how fast we are at getting the hell out of Iraq. Lets return to the moral leadership position of the industrialized world. It will take as long as it takes. But at least we will have a real mission based in reality. We would be complicit if we ignore the history of this area and dream of a thriving unified fake Iraq. No more experiments in nation building.

I'm a realist and a dreamer I guess. But isn't that what Democrats have all become?

I just wanted to note that all of the stated military objectives and all of the stated national security objectives for which we went to war in Iraq, whether you agree or disagree, have been accomplished. Here-in lies the dilemma: After deposing the Sadam Hussein - Bathist Dictatorship, bringing Hussein to trial, verifying first hand through completely trust worthy U.S. military and political eye witnesses that there are no weapons of mass destruction, establishing first an interim government, and now a democratically elected government, training dozens of thousands of Iraqi men and women to defend themselves, their communities, and their nation, providing at least marginal infrastructure redevelopment, and providing at least a realistic opportunity for stability and freedom if that is what the Iraqi's want in the future, there really is nothing more that can be accomplished militarily or for that matter even politically in Iraq. Yes, continued moral support, advisement at a political, military, and social level, and some level of economic support, since after-all we did bomb there country to hell and they never did that to us personally, would be appropriate. However, having one hundred-and-thirty thousand troops stationed there, or anywhere near that number, or any troops at all with the exception of some advisors and possibly a marginal security force for support of the new Iraqi military, simply increases the tensions at this time when less would be more.

There is also the sacrifice of all of these brave and usually very young men and women that suffer from all types of risks and emotional and psychological trauma when stationed under such circumstances as they are in Iraq. Not to mention what I believe to be the legalized conscription of Soldiers and Citizens that have either been told they cannot end their tour of duty or have been forced to reenlist into active duty and sent to Iraq or put in some supportive role after having completed their commitment to the military and received honorable discharges even after many years of inactivity thereby causing great hardship and duress to these great Americans. This war has been very difficult on the most economically and socially vulnerable in our society and since it is a purely volunteer military it also means that we are hurting our most honorable as well. BRING THE TROOPS HOME, I say.

The war in Afghanistan was motivated by a critical and immediate threat and challenge against our nation’s sovereignty and its citizens. It is my opinion that this Presidential Administration missed a tremendous opportunity in Afghanistan to strike a fatal blow to the Terrorists on so many levels that there is no room in this forum to go through the list. Yet, despite its constant labeling, politicizing, and propagandizing of the pre-war situation in Iraq as relevant and directly related to the Terrorist Threats against the U.S. and its Western Allies, this Administration has been hard pressed to show any rational and well informed person how that is, and contemporary History clearly proves them wrong in these allegations. What it seems to me is that this Cold-War styled Presidential Administration with the remnants of an old Republican guard at its helm is attempting is to recreate the imagined glory years of Eisenhower and Regan when Republicans shined as defenders of freedom and were able to profit politically and otherwise from the social controls and warrior imagery of the Cold War. That way, although at times nostalgic to many, is nothing more than an old tried and failed way of prosecuting a war on anything. We did not win the Cold War because of Reganomics (our Federal budgets have rarely if ever been balanced since then and our National Debt, which was tripled by Reagan’s policies has ballooned to nearly a laughable nine trillion dollars creating a tremendous and unspoken opportunity loss for the U.S. and its Citizens), or because of Selling weapons to the Sandinistas (and the Iranians), or because of Korea (a cease fire without a peace that we are still dealing with 50 years later) or because of Vietnam (which, despite our technically having won that war is still a communist regime and no different per-say than when we were in the process of killing a million Vietnamese), and the Island Nation of Cuba, only ninety miles from the mainland United States, that pointed Nuclear weapons at the U.S. on behalf of the Soviets, and has over the past four and a half decades done everything in its power to subvert American Democracy, including provide safe harbor and financial assistance to drug smugglers and fugitives from U.S. law, and whose leaders (Fidel and Raul Castro) have been amongst the most repressive and brutal dictators in contemporary human history and certainly as regards the Western Hemisphere, is still communist and still thumbing its nose at the U.S. while helping to instigate and form anti-American sentiment and political ideology throughout Central and South America; a growing and dangerous trend in our back yard. I dare to say that we did not win the Cold War as much as the Soviets lost it because Communist Demand Economies and regular Social-Political Acts of Despotism such as spying on your own citizens without regard for their civil liberties doomed an exhausted behemoth of a Political Bureaucracy that could no longer sustain itself nor cared to.

The reality of the so called "War on Terror" is much different than that of the Cold War. It is a war that, like the Cold War, can last 50 years or more, but unlike the Cold War it can and, at least under the current Republican and Bush – Cheney strategy, will be continuously Hot for all of that time. This proposition and the fact that the current strategy for security and victory over the Terrorist Elements of Islam and their allies is essentially a path to National self destruction, (in particular with the political and economic pressures being exerted on the U.S. by the increasingly rapid rise of an Ambitious and highly militarized China added to the mix), have laid the foundation for a moment of national crisis that requires our leaders, Democratic and Republican, to shake off the haze that this current Administration has slyly although at times coercively dulled their senses with.

Is there a greater threat today than at other times in Post World War II America against our Nation? The answer to that is only slightly. The terrorists win when we over react. It is amazing to me that all of the legal, intelligence, policing, general security measures, and social controls that were needed to have prevented that tragic day were in place prior to the events of 9/11/2001 and in close retrospective analysis the only things that failed or were missing on that day had to do with the egos, attitudes, and beliefs of those whose jobs it was to protect us. This I say not in absolute terms but realizing that there are very trivial exceptions to such a statement of which we are all painfully aware now, such as not allowing men with knives to board Airplanes and the like (which astoundingly the Government wants to allow again). From the Federal Agencies down to the Airport security and at every point in between it was human errors, egos, traditional methods, opposing and conflicting departmental and institutional cultural attitudes at the federal level, and the general disbelief that it could happen that way to us that allowed the September 11, 2001 Terrorists to be successful.

The fact is that to win the so called War on Terror the type of activities that are required by our Government are in the realm of concerted efforts for domestic and international intelligence, police work, and espionage, (without the violation of international human rights laws, American Constitutional due-process laws, and the disrespecting of the rights of law abiding citizens in general, of course), along with a refreshed awareness and vigilance on the part of its infrastructure workers (i.e. Airports, Shipping Ports, Chemical, and Nuclear facilities workers, etc,) a better professionalization and communication amongst front-line responders and the State and Federal Government Agencies involved in crime prevention, law enforcement, and disaster response, along with increased efforts and a deliberate strategy for infiltration of the world that terrorists or potential terrorists live in over seas before they get here. Some of these elements are quite simple to implement and normalize although they may be difficult due to cultural and political obstructions, and some are both complex and difficult to implement for obvious reasons. However, if our Nation is serious about liberty, Democracy, Capitalism, and Social Justice it has no choice but to find a way to become as good and proficient in these areas as it showed it is at invading weak third world states such as are Afghanistan and Iraq. These wars, (although I agree with having invaded Afghanistan and have stated the obvious worthwhile accomplishments in Iraq), are not even the beginning to how we can make the United States of America, its Citizens, and its Allies free from the prevalence of Anti-Western sentiments amongst the disenfranchised of the world which is where most of the recruitment takes place for the organizations which have attempted harm to us and will continue at least for now to attempt and desire harm to us.

Conventional Military Wars and Occupations are very messy things whose ultimate outcomes and consequences can not be properly or efficiently controlled even after you overwhelmingly prove your military superiority. Iraq is proving to manifest this already historically manifested reality very well. Let’s get out now, while we can still declare victory and say that we did it not only for our National Security and that of our Allies in the region but for the sake of the Iraqi’s who are benefiting and will ultimately benefit from being rid of Sadam Hussein and the Bathist Dictatorship. Thank you for reading this. Vote Democratic in 2006 and 2008.

Regards,

ActivistNo1

Brain111, not all republicans are evil, but, all of the evil neo cons in power today in our government are republicans. Thus, yes vote democratic in '06 and '08. Unless you know of another major political party in the U.S.

Moving the troops to Kuwait is not close enough. We need some boots on the ground in Iraq.

What is going on right now in Iraq is not a full blown civil war.

Did you notice that during the curfew there were American troops in Baghdad maning some of the main checkpoints?

Yes, our troops are targets when there are 150,000 of them in Iraq making it look like we are occupiers.

Having a couple thousand in each of the provinces will be looked upon much differently.

There are many plans coming forward, because Iraq is a complex problem which will never have an easy answer.
The point is that we are trying to figure out the best plan and have the potential of staying flexible enough to respond to any need to adapt the plan further.
There's an old military saying; "No Operations Plan (OPLAN) survives first contact with the enemy (aka reality).
It is better than the Bushie "stay the course" (even though it's failing) non-plan.

Hey brain, 25,000 US casualties from a preemptive war based the biggest lie told to us in our lifetimes. Torture, illegal warrantless spying, and lobbyists writing energy bills. What's not to hate? Again, just say it to yourself, this one time, Vote D in '06 and '08. Lots of other republicans are.

Brian111 one more thing, the more I use logic, the more I hate what the cabal has done to our country. It is baseless and reactionary for you to accuse anyone of voting democratic as being either hateful or lacking independent thought.

It is simply the way to return to checks and balances. All people are corruptible or at the very least fallible regardless of their party affiliation, everyone knows that. But now things are different. And there is only one solution like it or not.

It's weird for a Republican supporter to accuse Democrats of marching in lock-step, and not thinking.
We have had five years too many of Republican "we are the Borg" lock-step, destroy-the-moderates thinking.
Every time Republican diss the Democrats they say we are not united, mainly because those Democrats who aren't bought-off Republi-lites tend to think for themselves.
But WE march in lock-step???
Fascinating.

This "plan" by the Dems is a good indicator of why this party cannot win elections. Doing nothing is not always the intelligent or courageous move. To stimulate the electorate the party needs to strongly advocate complete and immediate removal of all American troops and military installations from Iraq. Spend the money on the reconstruction of New Orleons and surrounding areas. The complete neglect of the victims of the war in Iraq and the war against the poor in this country is a national disgrace and a vindication of the people who are convinced that elected politicions care nothing about the country and only about their self interest.

If you mean independent or swing voters, many of them are the true base of the Democrat party.
The Democrats stood up for the every day working people from the 1930's to the 1970's.
It turned a lot of their true base off when the Democrats embraced the anti-war anti-military movement which turned on the Viet Vets instead of on the government which had put them into the conflict.
The party since the '70s has been viewed as left-field and out of touch. However since the Republicans have been taken over by the immoral minority and the neo-cons, the Democrat party is becoming the only hope of the working people, since there are no third parties which can carry a presidential election and will only act as spoilers which will aid the Republicans.
Right now, with the legislative election this year, I would say find a candidate you can support and work for that person.
We need to get the legislators elected who will do their best for the working people and send a message to both parties that enough is enough.

Sorry probably should have posted this here.

Hello Democratic Party,

You know I've been on the verge of starting my own politcal party. I have always though Bush is a complete idiot, but why waste time complaining about that anymore... I've been very disappointed by the leadership of the Democratic Party. I'm highly skeptical about the work that either party is doing in Washington these days. I have no doubt in my mind that my new politcal party given a viable politcal canidate could give either party a run for thier money and probably win on a shoe string budget. There is just a total disconnect on the account of both parties and the American people.

But being at such a tenous time in my countries history, I offer up my council to the lesser of two evils.

1) As much as you might want to believe that all of the current turmoil of today's political landscape might lend itself towards your 2008 campaign, in reality, in the view of the public, you don't have a vialbe political canidate. Most likely the Democratic party will either be running against John McCain or Rudi Gualini. Both of these Republican canidates are far enough removed from the Bush f-up adminastration that they will not be too greatly affected by the the current Republican dissarray. So take note of this, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT "YOU'RE ONLY VIABLE POLITCAL CANIDATE THAT HAS A CHANCE TO BEAT THESE TWO IS AL GORE!!!!" You might think that I'm foolish, but in reality you can think whatever you want. It's the truth though, so you better start moving Gore back into the forefront. While I respect Mrs. Clinton and John Kerry and whatever other canidates you might have none has the national appeal, trust and experience that the public is going to be seeking in 2008 that Al Gore provides. The 2008 election is shaping up to be the type of election custom made for Al Gore.

Next in a politcal coupe: The War in Iraq

You best bet here is to side step Bush and make him look like the complete inept,idiot he is. You should appoint Al Gore (preferably or other Democratic leaders) as a special envoy to the Iraqi government to help further the Iraq situation. If anyone objects simply say that you don't have confidence in President Bush's ability to adequately handle the situation and on behalf of the American public we would like to send a representative of the Democratic party to offer up new incites and do whatever we can to bring our soldiers home and help the Iraqi people bring a peaceful democracy to their country.

Step 1: You need to work with the Iraqi government to develope a pull out plan that they can submit to the Bush adminastration. I'd suggest it be a slow pull out over a 2 year period.

Step 2: I'm not sure how far the people are over there, but I'll take it from the top. First priority is to bring the Sunni's and Shiite's together in a room. It's obvious that the subversive forces in Iraq are trying to pull these two appart and submerge them in a civil war. While you have them in a room start from scratch. First you must break the country into districts, and set up a government where each district will be controlled by an elected official a la a govenor. That means predominantly Sunni districts are governed by Sunni's. Predominatnly Shiite districts will be overseen by Shiite's and predominantly Kurdish districts will be governed by Kurds. I would imagine that all parties involved can agree to these terms.

Next I would suggest that Sunni's and Shiite's come together to build a "super mosque" together. This would be a show of solidarity between the two. Then furthermore I would suggest that they build a national cemerary around this mosque to bury victims of terrorist attacks. This will serve as a visual reminder to all Muslim people of the toll that the terrorist attacks have on thier country which should serve to quell terrorist attacks. Furthermore, I would suggest that they start a television station that is dedicated to doing profiles of victims killed by the insurgency. The greatest way to fight the current throws of terrorism in thier country is to humanize the victims. It's easy for terrorist bombers to kill faceless people, but much harder for them to continue killing when you put a face and a story to these deaths. So you basically have a station that broadcast these victims being buried in the Iraqi national cemetary and show clips of thier family and the devastation and pain caused by their death. All most all Muslims will see this and realize that the violence is a affront to Allah. Is should work to stem the violence.

Next the Sunni's, Shiite and Kurds should elect an envoy of 6 members maybe more or less the number really isn't of pertinence. Then these members should go to other Middle Eastern countries and ask them to help by helping to combat outside insurgents from fhier countries from coming into Iraq. They could also meet with popular imams of other countries to ask their help in slowing the flow of insurgents to thier country. The basic theme should be, "We know that many of our Muslim brothers are coming to help us to remove the United States from occupying our country, but we have worked with the United States and have devised a withdrawl plan. They will be leaving the holy land soon, and they are only here now to help us maintane peace and security in our country. Our people have suffered much through out this ordeal, and now we only seek to establish a peaceful country. We ask that our Muslim brother and the Muslim nations assist in our efforts to establish peace.

So now we have helped to greatly quell Iraqi and Muslim nationalists by formulating a withdrawl plan and have undermined the terrorist attacks by making an example of the real life pain and suffering they are causing. It should work and it's better than doing nothing.

Next I would suggest that the Iraqi government form a government based more on councils than on trying to build it exactly like the American model. I would suggest that they have a council for Education, Military, Economics, Relegious and other important industries. Each council of elected members will be counciled by 5 Sunni's elected officials, 5 Shiite elected officials and 5 Kurdish elected officials. It makes sense that these certain industries should be formed equally by all Iraqi groups. I mean in regards to education what is good for a Sunni is good for a Shiite is good for a Kurd. What is good economically for a Kurd is good for a Shiite is good for a Sunni and so on and so on.

Of course Shiite will be like, "Why should we agree to that?" That is why also their would be an overall ruling body that would consist of a member from each district. This in many regards would be equall to a "House of Representatives" that the Shiite's would probably control.

The Shiite's get majority rule in some aspects, the Sunni's get equal control in developing many of the intergral parts of Iraqi society as well as the Kurdish. This can be used as a transitional government while a council of Sunni's, Shiite's and Kurdish work together for the next ten years to ratify any futher changes to the government that all parties believe to be in the best interest in the affairs of Iraq. They must reach some comprimise now though in order to move forward and unite the Iraqi people

I'm a little tired of typing right now so I'll have to come back and give the landscape of other politcal topics at a later time. Thanks for reading this though:) And I'm sorry if it doesn't real very well, but I didn't feel like going back and editing it:)

And someone from this party better start paying me for my political council. I prefer to be paid in gift certificates to Montgomery Inn Ribs and Skyline Chili;) You know the name look up the number:)