Hillary Clinton: Time to Withdraw
Hillary Clinton told ABC News that, in her opinion, the American people and Congress don’t believe that “this mission [Iraq] can work.” She added:
“And in the absence of a commitment that is backed up by actions from the Iraqi government, why should we believe it?”
Later:
“I’m skeptical that the Iraqi government will do what they have promised to do, and that I think is the concern of all of us who have heard this before. All the promises, and intentions in the world don’t substitute for action and we haven’t seen a lot of action.”
She described the situation as heartbreaking and she said that the U.S. should start withdrawing troops:
“That would really demonstrate to the Iraqis that we don’t have an open-ended commitment. We are not going to be here providing protection for their leaders, which we do. We are not going to be here standing by and trying to be called in from time to time as they see fit. That is not in the cards.”
I’m sure that quite some people will welcome this, new, view. If she wants to set herself up for 08, she has to do this. If she would not – and if she would not start criticizing Bush’s Iraq policies more outspokenly – she would hurt her own chances tremendously.
I’m quite sure that a lot of people will criticize her focus on the Iraqi government, instead of on Bush, to a degree, I agree with that. One could argue that Hillary makes it sound as if the Iraqi government is to blame for the current mess and that the U.S. has nothing to do with it. Although this is not true (see my own criticism regarding Bush’s policies in the past), what is true, is that the Iraqi government has – indeed – made a lot of errors.
Not unlike quite some people, I sometimes even wonder in how far al-Maliki wants to succeed. Or, perhaps better said, in how far al-Maliki’s kind of success is similar to that of, say, the U.S.
Others blogging:
An ironical John Cole
And Mark Silva at The Swamp.
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While the current Iraqi government cannot be blamed for the current mess, it is completely accurate to say that without major changes in its approach to things there is no hope for Iraq to move forward. It is not enough for them to promise changes, they have to deliver on them. I don’t see any evidence that they are going to do so.
An interesting corollary as to why Hillary may be speaking up now:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/4706
It’s time for Hillary Clinton herself to withdraw from running for President. If she’s upset about the way things are unfolding in Iraq and wants to blame someone, she need only look in the mirror.
She was a major enabler herself back in 2002, when somebody (especially of Hillary’s prominence) should have been asking tough questions. This along might have been forgiveable, but she continued to beat the war drums against Iraq in the years after that.
And, Hillary has been a major Democratic source of war-hungry rhetoric against Iran and Syria. Hillary and Joseph Biden are directly responsible for this mess in Iraq, and they deserve as much condemnation as Bush is feeling for the disaster. She is also a corporatist servant who’s helped to Bush other Bush atrocities against America such as that bankruptcy bill. She must not receive any support from the Democrats. If they Dems are dumb enough to nominate her in 2008, then I and my entire Democratic family and circle of friends will be bolting for a Third Party, and then you can say hello to President Giuliani in 2009.
Really? Really?
Given the complex motivations in the region, the current debacle should have been forseen. Should have, could have does not help much now, however.
It is unreasonbale to expect Iraqis to sort out all their problems in a limited tiem. On the other hand, it’s way past time for them to start working on it.
I see a small sliver of a chance, that the shift in America’s mood might provide the impetus for Maliki and his crew to get serious If hw does, we will need another debate on just how much support the US can give. If he doesn’t, then, it’s hopeless. We can’t bleed our money and lives there forever.
Sadly, this is just the kind of situation AlQaeda envisioned, and it succeeded in achieving it.
Aww Michael, you got my hopes up with the title! I thought for a split second it meant time to withdraw from the ELECTION.
Well, one can dream…
Oh and actually on subject; I think that this (for now) subtle laying of blame on the Iraqi government and talking about “getting rid of dependency” as an excuse for withdrawal is a TOTAL cop-out. We went in there, we destroyed the place, then failed to reconstruct it, then failed to suppress sectarian violence that was entirely expectable, considering that Shiites and Sunnis have hated each other for well over 1000 years.
I think we should leave because we messed up and there’s not much we can do to make it better anymore. All we can do there is waste money and lives. When we leave it’ll be an even bigger bloodbath. We messed up, and we will eventually leave either declaring victory (Bush style) or saying that Iraqis must stop being dependent on us (dem style). Either excuse will be lies to save face.
PS: I don’t mean to say the Iraqi government is full of well meaning people, or that if Iraqis loved peace more than they hated each other, things wouldn’t be better, but the least we can do is take responsibility for our hand in the matter.
“I sometimes even wonder in how far al-Maliki wants to succeed.”
Maliki recently said in an interview he would be happy to get rid of the job. Imho he’s a quite honest man. He stepped in because not many others wanted to be head of a unified government. Problem is, he got no power base. It’s al Sadr who has the followers and who has the say in government. And the very idea of a unfied governement has been humbug from the start. There are 60% Shiite, and together with theKurds, they even have a supermajority against the Sunnis, who tyrannically ruled both groups fo a long time. Why should this majority want to share the power now? It’s sheer nonsense. The Us doesn’t want Iran firendly Siites at the helm, but that’s the reality. If Bush would have wanted a sunni leader, he shouldn’t have got rid of Saddam.
Don’t you know all this or what’s your problem with Maliki, Michael?
Both parties have jumped aboard the bandwagon of blaming the Iraqis and both seem to have settled on this as their “honorable” exit: to say that if the Iraqi government can’t “stand up” so we can “stand down” then we will have to leave. They will have failed.
Let’s take a step back here. The world’s greatest military force cannot restore order to Iraq. There is no hope that the fledgling Iraqi army and police forces can do what the American armed forces can’t. This instability is our fault, plain and simple. We deposed a ruler who did in fact prevent sectarian violence, and we destroyed a secular state that did not tolerate religious extremism, terrorism or Al Qaeda! I’m not trying to praise Saddam Hussein here, but the fact is, he was able to maintain order and we are not. The new Iraqi government cannot. I’m having a hard time believing anyone here really believes that a temporary increase of 21,000 troops really has a chance at stabilizing this country.
“We deposed a ruler who did in fact prevent sectarian violence, and we destroyed a secular state that did not tolerate religious extremism, terrorism or Al Qaeda!”
Exactly. It was abolutely clear that, without Saddam, the majority of Shiites (the same sect as in Iran) would rule the state. And it should have come as no surprise that without his iron fist terrorism, and among it Al Quaeda, would rise.It’s idiotic that the US are complaining now about the results of this misguided adventure.
You know there is a contingent of Democrats who would trash the heck out of Senator Hillary Clinton even if she single-handedly solved every major issue facing our country today. Thank goodness these hateful people represent only a fraction of the far-left wing of the Democratic Party and will not do any real harm to Senator Clinton.