Prsident Bush says two things-- over and over and over-- about Iraq. Well, three things, if you count, "The Democrats want to cut and run." The other two are, "When they stand up, we'll stand down," and "If we leave before achieving victory, the terrorists will have won."

When you peel the onion a little, though, these latter two statements are paradoxical. They can't both be true. Because it is possible for the Iraqis to stand up before we have accomplished some sort of "victory."

What exactly IS victory? Presumably it means defeating some enemy (although Bush has yet to articulate exactly what victory is or might look like, and who that enemy is.) But what about, "When they stand up, we'll stand down"? Doesn't that mean, essentially, that when the Iraqis step up and are prepared to police and protect their own country, we will pass off the baton and depart? And so, doesn't it mean that if the Iraqis were ready to stand up tomorrow, we'd be willing to leave tomorrow-- without any discernable victory? If we stand down when they stand up, aren't we essentially saying, "Hey Iraq, you finish this fight; we're leaving."? Isn't that a cut and run end game for US involvement in Iraq?

If Bush is telling the truth (sure, a big if) that we'll stand down when they stand up, then the debate between Dems and Reps is really this: the Dems are saying that as long as we refuse to signal a willingness to initiate the transfer of power, there is no motivation for the Iraqis to "stand up," and so this is an occupation without end; we are essentially acting as enablers to them, our smothering "love" preventing them from taking respnsibility for their own defense. If we send a clear signal that we will be leaving soon, the Dem argument goes, the Iraqis will stand up, because they'd have to. "Only when we stand down, will they stand up."

Everyone wants this mess over. The Dems seem to have an approach that facilitates it ending; Bush has an approach that has no end game.

Basically, you can't accuse the Dems of "cut and run," because ultimately both sides seem to want the exact same thing: to hand off responsibility to the Iraqis. The difference is, the Reps are unwilling to do anything to make that happen; the Dems are urging that we take an active role in getting the Iraqis to stand up. Reps say the Dems offer no alternative; but "Let's get out" is actually thought leadership on the Iraq occupation.

When a mother bird wants to teach her babies to fly, she pushes them out of the nest. Essentially, Dems want to push Iraq out of the nest; Bush wants to keep them in the nest (at $2 billion a week) until they spontaneously fly away. And that just aint going to happen.

Labels: The politics