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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-11-13

So, I Guess Joh Edwards Is Running Again

John Edwards all but announces his candidacy in 2008 in Sunday's WashPost.

He starts with an "explanation" of his vote to go to war, and says "I was wr . .wr . . .wr . I'm s-s-s. . .s . . . Okay, but it was HIS fault!"

I was wrong.

Almost three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what many of us believed and argued -- was a threat to America. But in fact we now know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in some cases, manipulated to fit a political agenda.

It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't as Fonzie-esque as I portrayed it. But, then, isn't the next logical question "Why would he do this?" Simple: he has to make peace with his base while not seeming delusional about historical realities a la John Kerry.

And then what? He offers a plan. Thank God, 'cuz what we were really lacking in this whole thing was HIS plan. Who needs Joint Chiefs and Generals and Soldiers and former soldiers when we can get the opinion of a former trial lawyer and senator?

A plan for success needs to focus on three interlocking objectives: reducing the American presence, building Iraq's capacity and getting other countries to meet their responsibilities to help.

First, we need to remove the image of an imperialist America from the landscape of Iraq. American contractors who have taken unfair advantage of the turmoil in Iraq need to leave Iraq. If that means Halliburton subsidiary KBR, then KBR should go.

Ah, yes--it's Halliburton. THEY'RE the cause of all the Iraqi's troubles.

Second, this redeployment should work in concert with a more effective training program for Iraqi forces. We should implement a clear plan for training and hard deadlines for certain benchmarks to be met.

Whew. I was wondering when someone would get a good idea about how to better train the Iraqis. Who'd a thunk it would come from the plasticine Veep-to-be?

Third, we must launch a serious diplomatic process that brings the world into this effort.

Now, why didn't Condi think of that? Probably too busy schmoozing the Halliburton executives while in Mosul.

Seriously, though, I can't think of a single more unqualified person to give this sort of advice who would actually be given column-inches by the WaPo than John Edwards. What a pointless exercise in trying to steal back a little of the stage that people who have jobs right now are occupying.

If the administration is serious about taking off the gloves, if Friday's speech wasn't just lip-service to engaging in the domestic war, then someone from the administration will be on every Sunday show swatting this tripe out of midair. And then someone should write a strongly worded rebuttal in the WaPo on Monday morning. And then Scott McClellan should go to the podium Monday morning and turn John Edwards into a punchline.

That is, if the administration is serious about engaging in the domestic war.
Posted by: Michael / 11/13/2005 12:52:00 AM

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