Progressive Talking Points - 10/12/05

Yesterday, Iraqi negotiators reached a compromise on the Iraqi constitution that brought with it the support of at least one major Sunni group in advance of Saturday's referendum. While administration officials are heralding the Sunni compromise as a breakthrough, the late inclusion of the Sunnis in the political process highlights the Bush administration’s flawed approach to promoting true democratic progress in Iraq.

• The Bush administration cannot continue to rush the democratization of Iraq for political gain. Iraqis are complaining that American involvement in the constitutional process is preventing them from reaching the sort of consensus they would like to see. "We're short of time — it's the fault of the Americans," Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman said. Continual American insistence on rushed deadlines is likely to weaken the constitutional process, while fueling the insurgency and further complicating the roadmap to democracy in Iraq.
  
  
• The Bush administration is more concerned with attaining public relations victories than achieving inclusive democratic progress. Despite yesterday’s compromise reached by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Shiite and Kurdish negotiators with the Iraqi Islamic Party, the mere fact that the Sunnis have been excluded from the constitutional progress unveils the flawed nature of American efforts in Iraq. This compromise papers over the many mistakes the Bush administration has made.
  
  
• Shock and awe is not always the answer. While President Bush continues to insist that the large U.S. troop presence in Iraq is needed to spur the Iraqi political progress, "a growing number of military commanders and civilian policy makers are voicing the opposite concern: They fear the large U.S. troop presence is actually helping feed the insurgency and stunting Iraq's political growth." "The main danger is that the constitution ratifies and exacerbates the sectarian divisions within the country," said Malley. And indeed, growing numbers of U.S. officials are slowly gravitating to that position. "[The constitution] could make people on the fence a little more angry or [make them] come off the fence," said a senior U.S. official.
  
  
• There is a progressive solution. The war in Iraq has not made the United States any safer and the Bush administration's complete lack of leadership in bringing this war to a successful conclusion must be addressed. Rather than debate the false choice between “stay the course” and immediate withdrawal, Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis of the Center for American Progress have developed a progressive strategy for Iraq that re-focuses our strategy on fighting terrorist networks, strengthens and rebuilds U.S. ground forces and creates a reasonable timetable for ending the war successfully in Iraq.