by: Becky A. Coats
December 29, 2006

Born from the ideological differences between the violent extremes of opposing religious cultures, the United States continues military involvement in what has become Iraq's civil war. Almost 3,000 American and well over 150,000 Iraqi (not to mention the British and other "coalition of the willing") lives, have been lost to the Bush Administration's ill conceived, poorly executed crusade to spread Democracy in Iraq. During this extended war, Jordan has become home to almost two million Iraqi refugees and Syria now deals with hundreds of thousands homeless Iraqis. Although the numbers are unknown, Iran has also taken in their share of Iraqi refugees … as has every other Middle East nation along with the United States. By the most conservative definitions, Iraq is currently engaged in a full-blown Civil war between Sunni and Shiite that has brewed since the prophet Mohammed ascended at the Dome of the Rock. The idea of an American military "victory" being achieved in Baghdad is not only irrational, but also irresponsible.

However, despite stinging midterm election defeats directly linked to voters' dissatisfaction with the administration's Iraq policies, President Bush's "new way forward" for Iraq amounts to little more than a change in rhetoric. Ignoring the Iraq Study Group (ISG) Report's pointed condemnation of the his handling of the war and strong warnings by Generals George W. Casey, Jr. and John P. Abizaid against deploying more American troops on the ground, the President seems determined to move "forward" with "stay the course." Last week's White House requests to the Joint Chiefs and the Office of Management and Budget to find more combat troop to deploy and obtain a cost estimate of sending a "surge of troops" into Baghdad confirms our worst fears. Our deployed loved ones will not be coming home anytime too soon. In fact, 20,000 to 35,000 more American families will unwillingly wave good-bye as the President sends yet another mother's child into a war that in reality no longer belongs to the United States.

While Bush administration policies, including their lack of a clear mission, created the conditions conducive to the current civil war in Iraq, the United States is not militarily responsible for the outcome of Iraqi's Civil war. Unlike Senator John McCain or General Jack Keane, I do not believe that "victory" involves further military involvement. Military "victory" was accomplished with the capture of Saddam, et al. A military surge in Baghdad may reduce the insurgent violence temporarily, but it cannot resolve the centuries old rivalries between Sunnis and Shiites. According to Generals Casey and Abizaid, once the "surge" troops leave, the violence will begin again.

The only rational solution remaining to the United States is engaging in "broad regional diplomacy" as suggested by the ISG report. Real, sustainable "victory" comes from understanding and that requires talking. Unfortunately, the Bush administration continues to believe that "victory" is possible only at the point of a gun or drop of a bomb and irresponsibly refuses talks with Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria. President Bush and Secretary of State Rice still believe that isolating Iran and Syria will cause them to see the error of their ways and magically convert to Western Democracy. So far, that isolation has not worked. In truth, the policy is a tremendous failure and has caused further serious problems for the region as a whole.

What ever happened to the idea of "keeping your friends close and your enemies closer"? Before this Bush presidency, the United States consistently entered negotiations with her enemies. We talked with both the former U.S.S.R. and China during the Cold War. We talked to Stalin (a sworn enemy of the United States) during WWII and to North Korea and China during the Korean Police Action. As I write, our State Department is involved in various negotiations with Russia and China, neither of which ranks as great champions of human rights, much less as friends of the United States.

As usual, President Bush is not listening and is ignoring the will of American voters as well as the wise council of his military commanders on the ground in Iraq and the ISG. His stubborn refusal to recognize and correct past and continuing mistakes in Iraq and the Middle East region as a whole is a slap in the face to every American. It is now up to the 110th Congress to hold this president accountable to the voters' wishes. It is up to "We, the People" to hold the 110th Congress accountable.