The Democrats haven’t been sworn in yet as the new overlords of Capitol Hill, but the direction in which they want to take the country is already becoming clear. Several major Democrats spoke out today in favor of withdrawing troops from Iraq as soon as possible.
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the incoming chairman of the Armed Services Committee, stated his desire to begin bringing US troops home in phases within four to six months. Joe Biden, the Delaware Senator and incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, joined him in predicting that many Republicans would support such a resolution. Levin thinks that now is the time for Bush to tell the Iraqis that “the open-ended commitment is over.”
Harry Reid of Nevada, the new top dog in the Senate, is more cautious in his comments. While he agrees that the troops should start coming home in a matter of months, he stated he would “absolutely not” insist on a specific date.
I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I seem to remember everyone berating President Bush for not sending enough troops into Iraq to ensure its stability. Just today 159 people died in sectarian violence in Iraq, underscoring the instability of the current Iraqi government. The Iraqi Prime Minister was quick to promise an emergency reshuffling of his cabinet in a frantic effort to calm tensions. Does that sound like a situation that would be improved by reducing the number of troops? Sure, it’s a popular move: everyone wants to see the boys come home. But I’m not convinced that a cut-and-run strategy would really help the Iraqi people.
At least the Bush administration still seems to share my viewpoint on the matter. While acknowledging the need for a new direction, president Bush’s chief of staff Josh Bolten went on record to say that “the administration will not support a timetable for drawing down troops.” “Nobody wants to get the troops out of there more than President Bush,” he said. “But they need to be there to support the Iraqi government, to make sure that the Iraqi government succeeds. And as soon as we can get them out, we will.”
President Bush is scheduled to meet tomorrow with the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. The group, led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, is expected to field recommendations for a new course in Iraq by the end of the year. Let’s just hope that Jim Baker still has some smarts left in him.
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