To surge or not to surge, that is the question. Look at the facts: Iraq is a land area larger than California. Baghdad alone has a population of over six million. Twenty thousand extra troops, in short, will not bring victory in Iraq. Reality is not going to stop the President, however, whose blind fanaticism for his cause is descending into self-parody.
By announcing his plan to escalate the war, President Bush is not only ignoring reality, but ignoring the American people, as poll after poll shows the American public is in opposition the surge. Besides putting more troops in danger than need to be, it also flies directly in the face of Bush’s previous promise that he would not send more troops unless his commanders asked for them. They have not. Furthermore, it presents a host of logistical problems, such as establishing a clear chain of command between American generals and Iraqi leaders.
Even more disconcerting than the President’s strategy for failure is his insistence that he will carry it out whether Congress approves or not. Most members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—both Democrats and Republicans—are openly hostile to the plan, while House Democrats have the numbers to outweigh their more cattle-like Republican counterparts. Poor Iraq policy was the reason those Republicans lost their majority status in the first place.
Unfortunately, thus far Democrats have only used their power to pass a non-binding resolution against the President’s plan. It is now incumbent upon Congress to prohibit use of Iraq appropriations to deploy more soldiers, leaving the President with no constitutionally acceptable means of carrying out his plan.
The required increase in troop numbers also would mean a third deployment to Iraq for many troops, an abusive way to treat a purely volunteer army that faces the task of trying to stave off an Iraqi civil war. Americans thought their votes would stop such foolish plans after last November, and while it appears the President didn’t get the message, Congress can still do the job. Let your Congressperson know you oppose the troop surge.
