A few months ago I proposed a plan to place Republican Congressional war hawks on the defensive politically and force them to take positive steps to fix the real problems in Iraq. The plan was, I thought, brilliant in its simplicity. Yet it attracted so little support I decided it was a dead letter. Today, I’m reviving it because I cannot stand by and watch impassively as the unmitigated horror unfolds for the people of Iraq and for our own troops sent into that quagmire.
Here is the idea: Inundate the offices of Congressional Republican war hawks with requests that they travel to Iraq this summer and report back to constituents on the situation as they observed it. If I were in their position, that is just about the last thing that I would want constituents to demand I do.
Follow me on the jump; this is a call to action to the netroots.
It’s not just that Baghdad has become dangerous beyond imagination, and you’d be asking me to take the same risk, for a day or two, that our troops face. But worse, after my return there is almost nothing I could say that would not harm me politically. If I tried to paint a picture of progress in Iraq, as nearly all hawks have done in the past, I’d look like a fool to voters. The alternatives?
It would be politically painful to tell the truth, though in the end I think some of the hawks would decide to do so. If so, that would help to create political conditions under which Congress might start to give serious thought to finding some real solutions to the actual problems we face in this war.
Why would some of these hawks break with their President and Party? Well, for one thing the mayhem is so tangible that they might be genuinely shocked by what they observe. Those who visited Iraq years ago will be stunned by how much worse the violence has become, and those who’ve never visited might have their eyes opened…particularly if we were to ask them to travel outside of Baghdad.
In any case, political calculations would force many to admit to something like the truth. As anybody can see from just reading the news, the cycles of violence will continue to spiral upward for some time to come. American casualties will continue to mount. The new government of Nuri al Maliki is so fragile that it has not been able even to appoint key ministers, including an Interior Minister. Yet without a crackdown by the central government on the myriad groups tearing Iraq to pieces, or a (totally unexpected) deal among the warring factions themselves, basic security will continue to deteriorate. By November, any Congressman who comes back from Iraq with the message “stay the course” will have painted himself into a corner.
To achieve any progress in Iraq, each member of Congress has to be put on the spot very publicly and obliged to state what is to be done about Iraq. Asking them to travel there is, I think, the best way to create the circumstances needed to force the issue.
And it is not an unreasonable request as such, by any means. A member of Congress would be hard pressed to find an excuse for not traveling to Iraq, if enough constituents asked for it. If those requests are also made publicly, for example through letters in your local papers, the pressure to make the trip would become nearly irresistible.
You may have noted the report that came out yesterday from the Center for Public Integrity, based on a nine-month study of frivolous and suspicious trips taken by Congressmen. It lambasted Congress for the numbers of expensive, privately-funded junkets that members have been making. You can now leverage that report to urge your Congressman to make that long overdue trip to Iraq. Unlike trips to Pebble Beach, for example, the business in Iraq is deadly serious.
We also have the Speaker of House, Dennis Hastert, just back from a `surprise’ trip to Iraq. He made a fool of himself by claiming that he saw signs of progress in Baghdad when he flew in at night.
The speaker and his party saw it as a sign of progress, of how much power had been restored in a city known for frequent blackouts, according to Hastert’s spokesman, Ron Bonjean, who accompanied the speaker.
“It was one of our first impressions, so many lights shining brightly,” Bonjean said.
I could point to any number of things that have convinced me in recent weeks that it’s time to try again to break this whole rotten egg open, and to force members of Congress to inhale deeply of the stench they’ve helped to create. But you already know most of these stories; the beheadings; the mass kidnappings; the torture; the massacres; the horror. If you don’t think it’s time for the netroots to take charge and do something, at least try something, I would point you to this discussion at Unbossed.com from a few days ago, with an Iraqi blogger, Abu Khaleel, author of A Glimpse of Iraq. I asked him for suggestions about what we might do to fix some of what is ruined in Iraq. His response:
Thank you. But I am afraid that you are as helpless as I am regarding influencing US foreign policy!
Are we helpless? I would say it is true only if we agree that it is.
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A Plan
I welcome criticisms and suggestions, if you have a better plan. But if you think this one might work, why don’t you join me and help to create a blogswarm to implement this plan starting on Wednesday…and continuing all month, if necessary, to compel the war hawks in Congress to bow to public pressure to visit Iraq in person.
I suggest concentrating on the House of Representatives, since each member faces the voters in November, and particularly upon supporters of the war. Please email, call, or fax your Representative asking whether he/she will travel to Iraq this summer and report back to constituents about what they find and what they believe Congress should do. Mention also that you believe a failure to investigate the situation in Iraq now that chaos is spreading would be a dereliction of duty. And state that you plan to make your call for action in a letter to the editor to your local paper. Then, do it.
The numbers for the Congressional switchboard are 202-224-3121, 888-355-3588, or 888-818-6641. This search engine at Congress.org is useful for finding your Representative’s website quickly. And this search engine at Project Vote Smart has the same and further information about Congressional offices and contacts.
I believe that we can make a real start toward repairing the damage our nation has done in Iraq with the right plan, with focus, and determination. I dare you to prove me wrong.
Crossposted at Daily Kos and My Left Wing.
