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January 30, 2007
Missing the point
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is a smart guy, and it was totally in character for him to hold these hearings today on the extent of Congress' war powers. It appears he's planning to follow-up on them:
Tomorrow, I will introduce legislation that will prohibit the use of funds to continue the deployment of U.S. forces in Iraq six months after enactment. By prohibiting funds after a specific deadline, Congress can force the President to bring our forces out of Iraq and out of harm’s way.
I've noted elsewhere my thoughts on how successful such efforts ultimately will be. But Feingold's bold pronouncement isn't the most telling passage in his statement:
This legislation will allow the President adequate time to redeploy our troops safely from Iraq, and it will make specific exceptions for a limited number of U.S. troops who must remain in Iraq to conduct targeted counter-terrorism and training missions and protect U.S. personnel. (emphasis mine)
This seemingly secondary declaration highlights a fundamental but overlooked truth of the Iraq adventure -- upon invading Iraq, the United States never had any intention of leaving. As valid and necessary as the debates over withdrawal timetables surely are, they merely fiddle on the margins of the issue. Even Feingold's comparatively bold legislation includes an allowance for a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq. To be sure, his bill is a big step in the right direction; hopefully it will move the debate closer to grappling with the underlying issues at play here. But as smart and principled as Feingold is, even he cannot easily escape the straight-jacket that Iraq has placed on generations of U.S. foreign policy.
Posted by Daniel Widome at 02:40 PM to Middle East,
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