Cest Moi Political Blog

There is cause for Congress to act. Let's not forget that fact. We have catastrophic problems in the War in Iraq, remedies for which Congress is empowered to initiate. It is imperative that those charged with duties as public servants stand up and use all their granted powers to right the American course. Non-binding resolutions are not meaningless. They are statements of opposition; they are attempts to reel in an administration's abuse of its citizenry and its military; they are actions that will serve as a permanent imprint in American history that says we recognized terrible wrongs and did all we could to stop it. Attempts to modify the 2002 use of force authorization are not meaningless. The spirit and the letter of that authorization were abused and misused. In this case, it matters not that the President is Blue or Red. We cannot allow any President to walk one inch over the line that separates effective and aggressive United States leadership - and the indefensible abuse of executive power.

The merit of this war and its rational will be debated among the greatest minds for a hundred years and on. Congress doesn't and the American people don't need to resolve that issue to know the situation as it exists now calls for action. While there should be national discussion on what that action can and should be, we drone on about how it's all just political posturing. Of course, what did you expect from very political entities in a tug of war for power and control? That does not mean there is no validity to action taken. It only means action will be to a lesser degree and take longer.

Control of the purse strings is hardly an outrageous attempt to bring an end to the ineffectual occupation of Iraq. These are some unavoidable facts:

The mission was - get the WMD: There were none
The mission was - oust Saddam: In May, 2003 the Saddam regime fell
Bush declared "mission accomplished."
In December, 2003 Saddam was captured and his seat on death row was reserved.
We overplayed the potential of the fledgling Iraqi government
The insurgency grew in number, strength and violence
Civil war broke out
There has been no weakening of al-Qaida, we are not fighting al-Qaida
Global terrorism has increased 600%
We stopped pursuing Osama bin Laden
Iraq is utterly destabilized
More than 3,000 American soldiers lost
150,000 - 600,000 Iraqis lost
What little International support that existed nearly fell off the map
The British pulled out of Iraq entirely

And President Bush surges.

For the love of country...when will enough be enough?!

The quickest remedy Congress can find to regain control over what some would call the madness that IS the war in Iraq, is to first establish that this administration has broken all the boundaries of the 2002 use of force authorization and to limit his authorization to only that which it allowed. With that done, they should then establish, with absolutely no ambiguity, what actions in Iraq will be funded. The war, on every level, has been horribly mismanaged. By what justification do we not step in and say it's time to take this from the hands of those clearly incapable of making competent and rational choices. It has spiraled hopelessly out of control and gets worse every day. If Congress were politically fearless, we would likely see a unified and immovable decision to take the reins and fund only what is required for a 60 day exodus from Iraq. This never-ending cry for victory as an excuse for perpetuating an exercise in futility is by all definitions - insanity. All who need to - go ahead and claim victory. To this administration I say - go ahead and claim victory. Paint "mission accomplished" on every transport vehicle bringing our troops home. The truth is we don't get to decide that. Those conclusions will be left to future generations and historians.