Politics and the realities of war

Thomas Ricks writes a very impressive lead article for the Washington Post, today, that gets right to heart of the problem in the Iraq war debates in Washington, right now.

Politics Collides with Iraq Realities

The headline really captures the problem. Political debates in Washington that demand too much of realities on the ground and which impact realities on the ground, as insurgents and Al Queda hope to outlast the political will of the American people.

It's not Republicans who are out of touch with reality. It's not Democrats who are out of touch with reality. It is all of us who are always less than ideally aware of the realities we need and want to understand. Because life is just not ever so simple that anyone ever has all the right answers. That goes for politicians too. Though the truth is that politicians and average Americans are constantly demanding that everyone know more and better than they ever really could know. And certainly more and better than any of them know or ever really could know.

Here's the bottom-line in Iraq: a reasonable security must be created in Baghdad and in the rest of the country. We have no control or any real influence over a political resolution. We wish we did. We may try to use the threat of a pull-out to pressure for influence.

But the truth is we have very little influence other than hoping that Iraqis can negotiate exactly what Maliki and most Iraqis hope for, which is a political resolution that can end sectarian warfare and insurgent resistance and create a climate of legitimate political authority which can help to create a presumption that the Iraqi government and the American military will effectively monopolize force and bring a reasonable security to Iraq.

If we run tail after starting this thing and think that we are getting out without being or taking any responsibility for both starting this thing and not seeing it through, and if we think that somehow the Iraqi people or the international community is going to look at this mess and think, "Well, that's all on George Bush. All the rest of those Americans, especially those liberals, are goddamn saints who tried to prevent this damn thing," we are fuckin' deluded.

We will hope that Iraqis arrive at a political resolution and we need to stay and help them secure their country until they do. We created this mess. Not George Bush alone. The by-far-majority of Americans who supported this war when it started and who have grown weary with that decision since then. All of us. I didn't support it going in. I opposed it publicly. But I know better than to cut and run when the going gets tough just because things aren't exactly as I would like.

This is our mess. And we need to clean it up. It's the least we can do for the Iraqi people whom, when we dig deep and give up all that bullshit cynicism that animates too much of the political conversation about this war, we know that we should be looking out for here.

This is not about the politics of gay marriage or wealth inequities or abortion or the environment.

This is about making sure that we do the responsible thing, here, and help the Iraqi government, which wants and has made clear that they need our help. This is a mess we are responsible for. And we need to stay and make sure it gets cleaned up.

If Democrats can't get clear about that, then perhaps John McCain, who wrote about The War You're Not Reading About, in today's Washington Post, should lead this country until they do.

The biggest problem with this war is too many egos pretending they know more than they really do about this situation. It should be humbling for all of us.

And what we so desperately need, right now, is a humble discussion and debate about how to handle this war. No leader can make us do that. We have to, all of us, grow up together and have a mature and thoughtful discussion of what is happening and what we are going to do.

Right now, I have to say that John McCain's cautious optimism and his efforts to make Americans aware of moderate progress in Iraq are persuading me of his serious leadership potential and capacities. And what I really respect about John is that he voted for the war and instead of whining about how he was deceived - as Hillary Clinton has been doing and which makes so much clearer why she would be such a bad leadership choice, at this point - he is trying to make things right. And that is exactly what we should be doing, right now.

I respect Barack Obama for honestly opposing and criticizing this war, up front, which more sitting Senators should have done until a stronger debate and discussion could have been engaged about what to do in Iraq and if war was the option chosen - over strengthening sanctions, removing sanctions, etc. - then a better debate and discussion should have taken place in the lead up to that war. I do believe there was a very strong case that a war to remove Saddam Hussein was the only best option, even as I opposed the war, up front. But to make sure that was the case we should have had a stronger debate about how to engage that war in a way that would have more effectively included Iraqis.

The best option I've arrived at was collaborating with Iraqi opposition parties and alligned militias to let them lead the effort backed up by overwhelming force from the American military to undercut the insurgency, politically, and to reassure Iraqis in good faith that we were there, genuinely, to liberate them not to occupy them and to provide the firepower that Iraqis who opposed Saddam Hussein lacked to succeed in a revolutionary effort.

Had we had that debate and discussion, I am confident we could have arrived at better options for handling this war. But we did not have that kind of substantive debate or discussion. Nor are we now, really. What we are really doing right now is exchanging self-righteous political volleys between groups convinced that they've already figured out the best plan, not an engaged discussion and debate about what a best plan might look like and brainstorming options for that purpose.

Right now, I respect the shit out of John McCain for keeping America focussed on what is going well and keeping us on track with our responsibilities, here. His cautious optimism and his presence of mind to use the media to maintain our sense of responsibility for this war and our sense of hope in the positive signs that we are seeing, knowing the political realities of insurgents using American despair about the war to strategize for victory, is both brilliant and a sign of genuine leadership. I think, perhaps, I may be voting for him, this election, unless a Democrat or another Republican shows comparable leadership, now, not just 4 years ago for Barack or 5 1/2 years ago for Rudy Guliani.

This is the kind of leadership we have needed during this war. President Bush has done a fine job despite his many mistakes, as far as I am concerned. Barack Obama impressed me with his leadership in openly opposing and criticizing this war, up front. Rudy Guliani impressed me on the day after September 11th. Ron Paul interests me for what I think he can bring to the political debate in the Republican primary and the general election in 2008. Hillary Clinton has really disappointed me and followed the political winds far too much and betrayed a lot of poor leadership instincts, I believe.

But this is the first time I have seen leadership during this war that has really impressed me. I disagree with John McCain on a lot of issues. I agree with George Will and oppose campaign finance regulation and John McCain's leadership on that issue - despite what I am clear are many very good intentions on the part of folks like John McCain, Bill Bradley, Russ Feingold and all of the very good people who have supported that effort - for the very same free speech reasons that George consistently cites. I favor abortion rights and am more shaky about McCain's commitment to this freedom than I am, say, Rudy Guliani or Barak Obama.

But I have to say that this is first time that I have been really impressed by the leadership of an elected representative during this period. And I am impressed because it is a sign, to me, that John understands the very, very complicated political realities that are at play in this war, which he and David Petraeus uniquely, likely, understand, John because of his service in Vietnam and David because of his extensive study of how Vietnam shaped post-Vietnam political and military realities. These terrorists are some crafty sons-a-bitches, I have to give them some serious credit. We have to be smarter. And John is doing a fine job, right now, if doing just that.

I thank God I live in a democracy, right now. Do you realize how much stronger our individual and general understanding and capacity for absorbing political and military blows that all this diversity of understanding and perspective and open debate and discussion make our strategizing, politically and militarily, over the course of this war? Democracy makes that possible. Goddamn. I totally take it for granted.

Not anymore.

By the way, if you haven't seen Flags of Our Fathers, yet, I definitely recommend it, especially for this political period.

Love,
Ben