"Realistic" isn't exactly the title I'd put on this Op-Ed piece from Senator Kerry this morning. In fact, reading this, I'm still wondering why he bothered. There is little of substance offered, nothing that in abstract theory anyone in the Bush Administration could disagree with, but the only concrete suggestions are so vacuous I can't believe this man is a serious candidate for President. Why choose this subject for an Op-Ed when there is so little to offer?
The image I get while reading this piece is this one:
This is probably a bit of an obscure reference for a lot of readers, but that's "Neil," from the British comedy, The Young Ones - a silly, but fun comedy about four young British guys sharing a "flat" together. Neil was the hippy-dippy-type roommate who was endlessly picked on by the other three.
His voice speaks through John Kerry today.
A Realistic Path in Iraq (washingtonpost.com)
I snip five paragraphs of fluff including the usually tsk tsking about "failed diplomacy" - always presented as a sort of throw-away without evidence. I could just about snip the entire thing.
...On the economic front, that means giving them [our "allies" - you know, the one's who've done everything they could to oppose American Foreign Policy on a wide variety of fronts. - Sol] fair access to the multibillion-dollar reconstruction contracts. It also means letting them be a part of putting Iraq's profitable oil industry back together. In return, they must forgive Hussein's multibillion-dollar debts to their countries and pay their fair share of the reconstruction bill....
You know, this is funny, I thought one of the criticisms of Bush's Iraq strategy was that we had to bribe our allies to go along with us, now here's Senator Kerry with one breath saying that we need to use diplomacy to convince them of our shared values, and with the next telling us that well...we actually need to bribe them. There's a disconnect here I'll leave it to the reader to figure out.
...We should also give them a leadership role in pursuing our wider strategic goals in the region. As partners, we should convene a regional conference with Iraq's neighbors. Such a conference would have two goals. First, it should secure a pledge from Iraq's neighbors to respect Iraq's borders and not to interfere in its internal affairs. And second, it should commit Iraq's leaders to provide clear protection for minorities, thus removing a major justification for possible outside intervention. Together, we should jump-start large-scale involvement with an international high commissioner to coordinate economic assistance and organize and implement these diplomatic initiatives...
Here's where Neil comes in. [Neil voice - to Iran and Syria] Gosh guys...it would...you know...be like reeeaaally, reeeeaaally cool of you if you could...you know...close your borders and stop all those baaad guys from interfering in Iraq. I'm sure we all want the same thing...right guys? Guys? [/Neil voice]
Yeah, maybe Kerry can send Jimmy Carter on this mission. That always works.
And since when are Iraq's leaders not at least talking about protecting minorities? It seems to me that's been a major goal of the nation building porocess.
Then, having taken these dramatic steps, we could realistically call on NATO to step up to its responsibilities. Our goal should be an alliance commitment to deploy a major portion of the peacekeeping force that will be needed in Iraq for a long time to come. Just as NATO came together to contain the Soviet Union and bring peace to Bosnia and Kosovo, with the right kind of leadership from us NATO can be mobilized to help stabilize Iraq and the region. And if NATO comes, others will too.
Earth to John Kerry: NATO isn't interested. They were blocked from putting Patriots in Turkey for purely defensive purposes, and they're being blocked now. The French are not our friends.
Inside Iraq, the overriding need is for security, and the essential participants are the Iraqis themselves. The missing ingredient in this quest so far is a political accommodation among Iraqis. Each Iraqi group -- the Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunnis -- has to feel it will have safety and a fair share in Iraq's future. Yes, let the Iraqis move forward with their schedule for elections and the writing of a constitution, but all must realize that the results of these elections and the constitution will hold only if the parties know they can protect their basic interests. Helping Iraq come together this way, by peaceful negotiations and not by civil warfare, is the realistic way to secure the loyalty of Iraqis to their new state, and the best way to give them a future to defend. And it will strengthen our efforts, and those of others in the international community, to overhaul the program to train and build Iraqi security forces that have the will and the capacity to fight against the insurgents and terrorists. In this context too, Iraqi reconstruction of Iraq with international assistance will have a chance.
Wow, why didn't anyone else think of that? John Kerry, you're a genius.
Is this the best John Kerry can do? It augers well for George Bush in November.
hey dude, like where did you get my picture, man? Kerry was at woodstock too!