Another socialist blog

Now that the meaningless “showdown” is over, and George Bush has vetoed the war funding bill, it’s time for Democrats to step back and think. They should be thinking about how to do the right thing in Iraq, but if that’s too much to ask (and it is), they should at least think about how to avoid being left holding the bag in 2009.

The Bush regime has no motive to pull troops out of Iraq. War profiteers are still making money hand over fist, and Bush doesn’t want to stop the infusion of cash to loyal Republican supporters. Like every war, this war distracts people from repressive domestic policies, and allows Bush to continue beating the September 11th drum to scare people into voting Republican.

So it’s likely, very likely, that the troops will be in Iraq through 2008 and will become the problem of a Democratic White House. Republicans hope that the Democrats will get the blame for “losing” the war when they pull the troops out during a Democratic administration. And given our experience with Congressional Democrats, the Republicans are right: Democrats can be counted on to continue trying to avoid “defeat” in Iraq by withdrawing oh-so-slowly.

The answer is to end the war now. Rather than passing a war funding bill with conditions, rather than passing a short-term funding bill, the Democrats should heed the voters and pass no funding bill at all. Republicans will cry foul and say the Democrats are causing chaos in Iraq. But that’s happening already. It can only get worse, whether we stay or go, but chaos and American occupation of the Middle East is still worse than chaos.

The Democrats have a lot to answer for. They voted for this war, and they’ve voted for every funding bill for the last four years. Now they want us to believe they “get it” about the war. Well it’s time to prove it. If you’re serious about ending the war, stop paying to prolong it.