The Iraqi government is not meeting the expectations of the American people. The Iraqi government needs to know that our patience is running thin, our commitment is not unending and they must be our partners in securing the region. "The President has completely mishandled the situation in Iraq," said Jim Ogonowski. "Now, through the leadership of our military, we've shown some progress and are able to bring some troops home. This is very good news. In order for the rest of the troops to come home, we must transition responsibilities to Iraqi institutions and Iraqi forces."
In his Blueprint for America's Safety and Success in The Global War on Terror, Jim Ogonowski defined victory in Iraq as the time when American forces are no longer on the front lines and when a stable and self-governing Iraq is in charge of its own security. When this happens, American troops can come home.
In advance of the President's speech tonight, Jim Ogonowski calls on the President to:
1) Demand the Iraqi government assume more control, sooner. It is unacceptable that the Iraqi Parliament took August off. The Iraqi government needs to know that our patience is running thin, our commitment is not unending and they must be our partners in securing the region.
2) Develop a regional coalition invested in the future of a stable Iraq. If necessary, apply diplomatic pressure to ensure that these nations will protect her. By expanding the coalition of support to other countries, they too can apply diplomatic, political and economic pressure to resolve future problems.
3) Get tough with many of Iraq's neighboring states that also pose great risk to the United States. Countries like Iran and Syria continue to create turmoil in the Middle East and provide safe haven for terrorists. America needs to engage these countries to help stabilize the region. We cannot continue to make demands without dialog.
4) Expand the coalition of nations by asking for help. The President has lost credibility on the world stage and should therefore solicit the help of former Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Carter to bring international support securing Iraq. Despite the fact that they are from different parties and some oppose the war, each of these presidents have demonstrated success in the region; they are patriots first and if called to duty, they will serve our country at this critical juncture.
Some politicians have suggested that the best way to make the Iraqi government responsible is to withdraw our troops immediately. Immediate withdrawal makes for a good sound byte, but would completely destabilize the region resulting in genocide and the need for U.S. troops to come back later.
Jim Ogonowski agrees with Senators McCain and Lieberman assessment that: "The Bush administration clung for too long to a flawed strategy in this war, despite growing evidence of its failure. Now advocates of withdrawal risk making the exact same mistake, by refusing to re-examine their own conviction that Gen. Petraeus's strategy cannot succeed and that the war is 'lost,' despite rising evidence to the contrary."
"Let's do it right this time," said Ogonowski. "Let's learn from our mistakes and finish the mission, so that we can leave, bring all of our troops home permanently, while keeping our commitment to stabilization, democracy and economic growth in Iraq."
Jim Ogonowski continued: "I want all of our troops to come home as soon as possible. They are not just America's sons and daughters, but my friends and colleagues. I want to bring all the troops home after we complete our mission of a safe, stable Iraq. That's a big difference between Niki Tsongas and myself. I want to do it the right way, a gradual drawdown that shifts responsibility to the Iraqi government. Niki wants to bring most of them home immediately, creating complete chaos in the region, while leaving some of our military men and women in harm's way indefinitely. That is not a plan, it's policy based on sound-bytes and empty political rhetoric and it's plain wrong ."
According to The Lowell Sun (7/12/07) "Tsongas acknowledged that withdrawing troops from Iraq would destabilize the country and require the U.S. to maintain enough troops in the region to deal with any al-Qaida presence there and help continue training the Iraqi army. . ."
"Niki's plan is a lot like sending Tom Brady on the field alone to take on the entire Colts defense," said Ogonowski. "Sure he'll make some big plays - he always does. But one guy standing up against 11 is going to get clobbered. It doesn't make sense for the Pats to do it and it doesn't make sense for America either."
Iraq is a serious issue that our country faces right now. The Bush Administration has made many mistakes and many politicians have politicized the war for their own interests. War is not a partisan issue. The future of Iraq and the Middle East cannot be decided on political grandstanding and partisan attacks. This is more important than that. Paint-by-number politicians won't get our troops home safely.
Both Republicans and Democrats should not engage in partisan rhetoric and political attacks. When Jim Ogonowski goes to Congress, he'll work to bring our troops home as fast as possible without destabilizing Iraq, and ultimately, the Middle East. It's time to change business as usual down in Washington.
Of course, it's highly unlikely Tsongas loses, but we'll know more about the appeal of this attack after the election.
STATE BLOGS
