Dear Mr. President,
As a rule, I don’t give advice to political opponents, but faced as we are with a natural disaster in Louisiana and a political disaster in Iraq, I’m spotting a light at the end of the tunnel here that could save your hide and satisfy people like me – who want the death in Iraq to end, even if it gives you a political boost.
For once, the politically expedient thing to do is also the right and honorable thing to do. As a politician, I’m sure you’re aware that the convergence of those two particular outcomes rolls around about as often as Haley’s Comet, so I suggest you seize this opportunity.
Here’s what you do: Bring the troops and their equipment home. ASAP. Tell the world how you were really, really digging this democracy building thing, it was a great and glorious gig, but after listening to FEMA Coordinating Director Bill Lokey today, you realized that your first duty is to the American people – and helping one of its most charmed and magic cities recover from a devastating tragedy. Those troops could be used here, for a long, long while. Here’s what your FEMA director said, in case you don’t have a link:
Lokey said he anticipated FEMA will set up a permanent office in the area.
Recovery will take so long, he said, that some workers could spend their entire career working on Katrina.
“This is the most significant natural disaster to hit the United States,” Lokey said.
See, it’s going to be a huge, long haul recovery, a career lifetime … way longer, in fact, than you told the American people that it would take to turn Iraq into a democracy. This way, it’s an act of God that forced you to return your attention to your nation (where it should have been all along, but we won’t argue that one now). You won’t be cutting and running – you’ll be repairing your nation’s shores.
Your supporters will believe you; they swallow any line you feed them. The rest of the world won’t believe you, but they’ll pretend to, just to get rid of our presence in Iraq. Liberals won’t believe you, and will probably say so, but they’ll be so relieved at seeing an end to our occupation, it will sound like nothing but murmurs and whispers to your presidential ears (particularly if you continue to only address hand-picked, adoring audiences).
So do the right thing – for your place in history, your current plummet in the polls and for the general goodwill of humanity. Who knows? The Iraqis may even strew our retreating path with the candy and flowers they were promised all along.
