EDITORIALS : New Ways Forward
Posted on Tuesday, January 9, 2007
No matter what
differences of opinion flare
up in regard to the war in Iraq — between Democrats and Republicans, between our government and the Iraqi government, between the Bush administration and foreign heads of state — the people caught squarely in the middle of each and every debate are, as they have been all along, the men and women of the U. S. military. We expect the crossfire surrounding these brave people to intensify as President Bush rolls out a new war plan and Congressional Democrats try to establish a pattern of oversight and accountability that was sorely lacking under the previous Republican majority.
The president will no doubt encourage us, in promoting his new approach, to join him in supporting the troops. Meanwhile Dems, while debating the president every inch of the way, will assure us that they too have the troops’ best interests in mind.
We basically believe both parties, just as we believe that the vast majority of Americans support our men and women in uniform. Who, other than someone driven by despicable motives, would not ? Another thing we believe: Americans are able to distinguish between supporting our troops and supporting this war. They know that one can see this conflict as a mistake and still support our troops as strongly as those who see the conflict the way the president professes to see it — as essential to national security.
It’s high time both the president and the leadership in Congress begin giving Americans credit for being able to make such distinctions and get on with an honest debate over what to do in Iraq. That includes a debate over funding levels. If Dems attempt to place any sort of restrictions on funding the war — for instance, making more funds contingent on a clear plan for victory — we expect them to be roundly vilified by the president and his supporters. But we’re confident most Americans will see that vilification for what it is: politics. We’re well past the point, as a nation, of writing blank checks for this war, whether they’re checks that pay out in money, lives or public trust.
Count us among those who saw the results of the midterm elections as, above all, a referendum on Iraq. Interpreting that referendum is something else entirely. Given the diversity of opinion in this country, it’s unlikely that all those who voted for change cast their ballots with identical, unified intent. Some want us to get out of Iraq immediately, at any cost. Others just want to be assured that there really is a plan for winning — that all this blood and treasure will not have been wasted. Others just know that something needs to happen, and fast.
But there are a couple of things we believe most Americans can agree on. First, we can accept that anyone with a soul supports and has compassion for the troops we’ve dropped into the cauldron of Iraq. Despite what we sometimes think of our elected leadership, we believe most of them, whatever their party affiliation, do care. And second, the time has come for a full and honest discussion — complete with dissenting points of view — of what we’re doing in Iraq, and where we go from here.
Our troops are heroes — on that we can all agree, without a debate over which party supports them more strongly. From this point forward, we’d like to see Democrats and Republicans alike set the talk aside and show support for our troops by managing this conflict responsibly. That means treating it like a war, instead of a hot-button political issue. And that will mean finding common ground.
Both sides have shown they can talk the talk. Let’s see them walk the walk, and put the interests of our troops ahead of politics.
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