Change the Course

Withdrawal from Iraq is becoming less of a partisan issue and more of a general consensus among politicians. The bipartisan Iraq Study group has recently released a preliminary conclusion of its study which calls for the gradual withdrawal of all United States combatants by 2008, leaving soldiers to train Iraqi military and security forces in order for them to take a more active role in ending secratarian violence.

Noted former secretary of defense Henery Kissinger has declared that the objectives and the definition of victory in Iraq needs to be changed, stating that a military victory in Iraq is no longer possible. As quoted by CNN:

"If you mean by clear military victory an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible."

Even Donald Rumsfeld, recently resigned from his position as Secretary of Defense, sees a need for a change in the President's foreign policy in Iraq. "In my view it is time for a major adjustment," he wrote in a memo to the white house. "Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough." (NYTimes, December 2nd).

It seems as if the only prominent decision maker in foreign policy is the only one who holds the position that "Staying the Course" is a good idea. Unfortunately, he is also the supreme authority in regards to making foreign policy. In response to the Iraq Study group, Bush declared that a strategy concerning exit in Iraq "has no realism to it whatsoever."

Before proposing further comment regarding the issue, it is important to note that Bush aides infered that the President is not completely resistant to change in policy concerning Iraq, saying that there are options that "he's (the President) is very open to."

It is interesting, however, that the President is not considering the advice of those who have extensive credibility regarding foreign policy towards Iraq, especially that of Donald Rumsfeld (who was allegedly asked to resign because his perceived strict advocation of "stay the course"). It seems as if the President has an unrealistic vision he wishes to pursue in Iraq. His rejection of the Iraq Study Groups findings is epecially alarming considering the report has yet to be released.

The president needs to realize that his objectives in Iraq are unrealistic. At minimum, he needs to heed the advice of Rumsfeld and Kissinger that policy change is needed in Iraq. He should carefully consider the consensus reached by the Iraq study group and delay making any prejudgeces in regards to the conclusions reached by the report until he has the opportunity to read the full report.