International Herald Tribune Editorial - Congress' challenge on Iraq

International Herald Tribune Editorial - Congress' challenge on Iraq
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: January 22, 2007


President George W. Bush's refusal to come up with a serious policy on Iraq means that the Democrats will have to goad him toward one. Congress needs to do more than just oppose the latest ill-conceived military escalation. It needs to insist that U.S. troops are not captive to the destructive policies of an Iraqi government for which sectarian revenge counts for more than national unity and civil peace.

To do that, it needs to demand that Bush impose firm, enforceable benchmarks on Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki — if any American troops are going to remain in Iraq.

In the Senate, a nonbinding, bipartisan resolution seems headed toward early passage. Sponsored by Joseph Biden, Chuck Hagel, and Carl Levin, it expresses strong opposition to sending more troops, citing the failure of the Iraqi government to keep its past promises on national reconciliation.

Passing this resolution by the widest possible bipartisan margin would be a good first step. It would make clear to the American people (who called for a change last November), to Bush (who didn't listen) and to Maliki (who didn't seem to notice) that the uncritical U.S. support for Shiite misrule is over.

Already, the newly questioning tone in Congress has pushed Maliki to distance himself — at least publicly — from his ally Moktada al- Sadr, whose Mahdi Army has been responsible for some of the worst outrages against Baghdad's Sunni population. It is too early to say whether this is a public relations ploy, or whether Maliki will now allow the Americans and his own army to move against Mahdi Army strongholds. The Senate resolution should make clear that that is the first prerequisite for continued U.S. support.

Hortatory statements are unlikely to change Bush's mind or Maliki's behavior, so the Congress will likely have to go further. Both houses will need to find ways to use their power — including the power of the purse — to do what Bush refuses to do: set and enforce deadlines for the Iraqi government to disarm militias, share oil revenues and reintegrate the Sunni middle class into Iraqi life.

Funding limits that simply freeze the number of troops, like the one Senator Edward Kennedy now proposes, are inadequate. The more difficult challenge is to figure out ways to compel Bush to come up with a policy that has at least some chance of letting U.S. troops come home without leaving total chaos behind.

Even if the Congress could stop Bush from sending an additional 20,000 troops, there will still be 130,000 caught in Iraq's maelstrom.