Teeth or No Teeth

The Democrats plan to implement a no-teeth resolution expressing their disapproval of Bush's escalation of the war. This resolution is expected to pass easily in the House, but a possible filibuster may block a vote in the Senate. Seven Republican Senators have so far agreed to vote with the Democrats on their "Non-binding Resolution" against the President's plan to increase troop levels on the ground so far: Gordon Smith(R-OR), Susan Collins(R-ME), Norm Coleman(R-MN), Chuck Hagel(R-NE), Olympia Snowe(R-ME), Sam Brownback(R-KS), and George Voinovich(R-OH). Now, assuming that the only defection would be Joe Lieberman(I-CT), that's 48 Dems. Add in the 7 Republicans above, and that gets 55 votes, needing 5 more to block a filibuster. Harry Reid(D-NV), the majority leader in the Senate, expects to get 4 or 5 more Republicans to break ranks, so it's going to be close.

But so what?

There are several ways to look at this, including the idea of using the resolution to force Bush into a political corner, but let's face it: Bush is doing a good enough job of that on his own. The Dems need to stand up and force the withdrawal of troops. Screw politics. Show some spine and take the risk of forcing the issue. I have no problem with the resolution per se, but I am having difficulty understanding why there is a reluctance to take real action. This war has to be stopped.

The escalation of the Iraq war began yesterday, regardless of any actions by the U.S. Congress. Troops began rolling into Iraq from Kuwait, starting with the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. The breakdown is as follows:

• The 2nd BDE, 82nd Airborne Division, and assigned as the call forward force in Kuwait, will move into Iraq and assume a security mission there.
  
• The 1st BDE, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota ARNG, will be extended in its mission for up to 125 days and will redeploy not later than August 2007.
  
• The 4th BDE, 1st Infantry Division, will deploy in February 2007 as previously announced.
  
• Three other Army combat brigades will deploy as follows:
  
  • The 3rd BDE, 3rd Infantry Division, will deploy in March 2007.
    
  • The 4th Stryker BDE, 2nd Infantry Division, will deploy in April 2007.
    
  • The 2nd BDE, 3rd Infantry Division, will deploy in May 2007.
  
  
• The Marine Corps will extend two reinforced infantry battalions for approximately 60 days.
  
• The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) will remain in Iraq for approximately 45 additional days.
  
• Finally, the USS Stennis Carrier Strike Group and the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Regiment will deploy to the region to bolster security.

Secretary Rice and King Abdullah, January 16, 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid public court to the Saudis today, meeting with King Abdullah, and pleading with Prince Saud al-Faisal for help with Iraq. Al-Faisal expressed doubt that the Iraqis would be willing or able to do what the United States has asked them to do, and dismissively stated that their fate was "in the hands of the Iraqis themselves." The Saudis and the Kuwaitis nevertheless both came out in support of the escalation, though seemingly reluctantly.

There is continuing controversy in the press over U.S. troops working with (or under?) Iraqi units, raising concerns about command and control. The infiltration of insurgents and "terrorists" into Iraqi forces leaves some uneasy about relinquishing the authority over U.S. troops to incompetent leaders or perhaps to those with an agenda. Outgoing General Casey reports that there is no conflict, and that American troops will remain under U.S. command and control. In the field, I'm not sure how that will play. The Iraqis are insisting that they will be taking the lead, but their track record in doing that has not been so good. As usual, the Bush administration has dismissed the objections of Congress and the American people.


Cully Stimson

Torture and illegal detention apparently aren't going away any time soon. Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs, said only last Wednesday in an interview on C-Span that Guantanamo remains a useful asset: “It’s important during a time of war to have a place where, number one, you can take people off the battlefield and not allow them to go back to the battlefield … but also, exploit intelligence that they may possess.”

Following that, on Saturday he suggested a boycott by corporations of those law firms representing detainees at Guantanamo. "I think, quite honestly, when corporate CEO’s see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their bottom line back in 2001, those CEO’s are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms, and I think that is going to have major play in the next few weeks. And we want to watch that play out."

Thankfully the ABA came out with a statement responding to that with an appropriate sense of outrage. The Defense Department is also already distancing themselves from his statements about the law firms. Unfortunately, they still seem to support him with regards to his earlier statement. Ironically, Scooter Libby has one of those firms representing him in his perjury case.


The rapidly deteriorating situation with Iran adds several layers of complexity to this. The recent attack on the Iranian consulate has really made the Iranians angry, and with Bush having sent a carrier task force to the region, there's already enough tension to go around without the so-called surge. I was going to say that I have grave concerns that this is going to flame up bigger than it already is, but that statement doesn't cover it. If we encroach onto Iranian territory, overtly, I don't rule out Iran invading Iraq. Then what happens?

over 600,000 Iraqis in the Iraq War
at least 34,452 Iraqis in 2006
over 100 Iraqis today
3,024 American military personnel as of today
At least 377 contractors
At least 106 Journalists

How many have to die?

Peace