Many leaders of the Iraqi government and sectarian factions have not demonstrated a commitment to the concept of a pluralist government; nor have they demonstrated the ability to control many sub-factions within their sects.
and:
the optimal outcome in Iraq of a unified, pluralist, democratic government that is able to police itself, protect its borders, and achieve economic development is not likely to be achieved in the near future.
Anything to disagree with? Let's look at an earlier quote in the amendment:
(1) The United States has vital national security interests in Iraq and the Middle East region. (2) These vital interests include the prevention of Iraq or any piece of its territory from being used as a safe haven or training ground for terrorists or as a repository or assembly point for weapons of mass destruction; the prevention of acts of violence and disorder that upset wider regional stability, undermining friendly governments, expanding refugee flows, impairing the international shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf, or destroying key oil production or
transportation facilities; the prevention of Iranian domination of or aggression toward nations or areas of the Middle East, which would have potentially serious consequences for weapons proliferation, terrorism, the security of Israel, and the stability of friendly governments; and the protection of U.S. credibility in the region and throughout the world. {emphasis added}
So far so good. We have an interest, not the least of which is preventing Iran from extending its fundamentalist, terror-supporting regime. A real possibility is a coup d'etat by someone like Al-Sadr backed by the Iranians. What does Warner-Lugar require (in addition to some reporting to congress...):
The President, in close coordination with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and) other senior military leaders shall, as a matter of prudence, consider all options and initiate planning to: (1) transition U.S. combat forces from policing the civil strife or sectarian violence in Iraq; (2) redeploy or reallocate those forces in a responsible manner as conditions permit; (3) refocus U.S. military operations on maintaining the territorial integrity of Iraq, denying international terrorists a safe haven, conducting counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda in Iraq
and its associates, protecting U.S. forces and facilities, and training and equipping Iraqi forces to take full responsibility for their own security; and (4) address the findings of the Independent Assessment of the Iraqi Security Forces as provided by PL 110-28 to include decision points for the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq that are based upon the readiness of Iraqi Security Forces.
Or in short words, plan to get out!
Doesn't that take the cake. We have an interest in seeing Iraq not spiral into a new terror supporting state, we believe that this is very likely, so let's start planning to leave!
Unbelievable!
Senators Warner and Lugar are two of the most respected members of the Senate with respect to foreign and military affairs. They must do better than this...
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