A congressional caucus called the "Out of Iraq Caucus" is now looking to focus on finding ways to get the U.S. out of Afghanistan.
"I think we see that we have the same problems in Afghanistan that we once had in Iraq: no end, no exit strategy, no clear end product of our presence there," said Democratic Congressman Raul M.Grijalva of Arizona.
Previousl the 60 member strong liberal Democrat contingent had focused on applying pressure to the Bush Administration and other high ranking members of the House and Senate to consider time tables for withdrawal from Iraq.
Another caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has formed a group to investigate current U.S. policies in Afghnistan and Pakistan. Currently, the caucus attention is focused on President Obama's request for $83.4 billion for additional funding for the two ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This shift in concentration has brighted the hopes of anti-war advocacy groups like the Progressive Democrats of America::"We would love to see the Out of Iraq Caucus continue working.We want to focus more attention on Afghanistan. Our theme should be health care, not warfare." said their executive director, Tim Carpenter.
This obsession for a withdrawal date is absurd.There should be an exit strategy, but it should not be publicly announced. What anti-war folks do not seem able to grasp is that such a proclamation offers the potential for disaster. If you are AL Queda in Iraq or the Taliban in Afghanistan, why wouldn't you just sit it out until the US leaves? You know when they are leaving, so why expend your bombs, ammunition, etc, now?
A very real scenario has the US leaving Iraq in a stable state. Iraq's infrastructure is slowly being rebuilt, democracy is taking root(hopefully), sectarian violence is abating. Iraq in all appearances seems on the path to a better future. But than BAM, the Al Queda operatives who had been hiding in secret waiting for this date, come out in force, ready and willing to kill, maim, and tear asunder the peace that Iraq had suffered so long to attain. President Obama has already announced the date in Iraq. Let's hope that the above does not occurr once we do leave.
Now considered the possibility in Afghanisan. Early withdrawal in Afghanistan could see the Taliban and Al Queda regain their loss of power. That means women being treated like dogs, Afghanistan continuing as a failed state, and the risk of Afghanistan becoming a "victory"over the US and the West. One cannot discount the symbolic benefit of this last potentialty in the Muslim world.
But what if the above happens? The anti-war folks will surely place all the blame on former President Goerge W. Bush for instigating the wars. While its true that the responsibility for the invasions belong at the feet of President Bush, the fact is that President Obama and his political allies now "own" Iraq and Afghanistan as they now have the power to do whatever they please. Just as Bush will be judge for his actions by history, so too will Obama.He has to get this right.
One can only hope that Obama is listening to more sober voices than that of the "Out of Iraq Caucus" and groups like the PDA. Obama has to set an internal date for when the US can reasonable leave Iraq and Afghanistan. That is true. But it cannot be at the price of the stability of those two nations. We owe it to them to at least leave their governments strong enough to prevent chaos from overtaking their countries.
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