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| Author: | Lionel Beehner |
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September 15, 2006
Democrats largely disagree with the Bush administration’s handling of the war inIraqand its attempts to link Iraq with the wider war on terror. Yet they are divided on an alternate strategy, particularly one that does not paint them as soft on national security. Some favor an immediate redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq, while others favor a timeline for a phased pullout. Democrats have called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation, citing a long list of botched moves following the ouster of Saddam. Regardless of whether these plans ever come to fruition, polls show Iraq—and the plan to eventually draw down U.S. forces—will weigh heavily on voters’ minds ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Murtha, Clinton, and other prominent Democrats have stepped up their calls for Rumsfeld to resign. Their reasons, among others, include Rumsfeld’s failures to stabilize Iraq and rout the Taliban in Afghanistan, the stresses he’s placed on the armed forces, and his sluggishness in properly equipping U.S. troops with armor. “No one is questioning his patriotism, his honorable service,” says Clinton. “We're questioning his judgment and his leadership.” News reports suggest it is unlikely Bush will sack Rumsfeld, despite the fact that only 38 percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing, according to a May Zogby poll.
The U.S. strategy focuses on raising the professionalism of Iraqi security forces, building their capacity to independently patrol and secure their country, and reforming the security ministries to rid them of sectarian bias and abuses. Politically, U.S. officials are trying to bolster Iraqi efforts at developing a national unity government that can institute broad-based economic reforms. President Bush has repeatedly said U.S. troops will step down as Iraqi forces step up and any plans for large withdrawals will be determined by military leaders on the ground. Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman defines the White House approach as an “adapt-to-win” strategy, referring to the U.S. decisions to ratchet up the level of troops before last December’s election, rotate more soldiers into hotspots like Baghdad, and involve more international actors like the European Union and the United Nations. Yaphe supports the president’s strategy, even though it may mean more U.S. casualties in the short term, because all the other options “focus on our needs, our politics, our standards of democracy, our casualties, our potential loss of regional influence and our dependence on oil,” she writes in the Los Angeles Times.
A number of experts, including former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith, who has advised Iraq’s Kurds, say President Bush lacks the political strength to unify Iraq. The war’s growing unpopularity played a key role in Connecticut’s race for Senate, in which Lieberman lost to anti-war challenger Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary. According to a recent Zogby poll, 56 percent of the U.S. population says the war in Iraq is not worth the loss of Americans’ lives. “Terrorism is an important issue to Americans,” says pollster John Zogby, “but when it comes to judging Bush’s presidency, their decision is based largely on Iraq.” Polls show that voters differentiate the war in Iraq from the war on terror and issues of national security. The election cycle has heated up the rhetoric surrounding the war. Democrats accuse Republicans of failing to grasp the grim realities in Iraq and adjust their strategy, while Republicans blast Democrats for being soft on terrorism.
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