It’s hard to know whether this will be a defining moment in the Iraq debate among Democratic presidential hopefuls, but New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has laid down a tough benchmark: Out now and out now completely.
Speaking at a conference of liberal activist groups today in Washington, Richardson said the bad and worse options choices being considered by the DC policy experts are off the mark. “Other than the customary marine contingent at the embassy, I would leave zero troops. Not a single one. And if the embassy and our embassy personnel aren’t safe, then they’re all coming home too.”
Of course he was speaking to choir of the converted when it comes to Iraq but in what Richardson called “a more optimistic view grounded in what I call a New Realism for foreign policy,” he sounded profoundly hardball when it comes to the differences between him and fellow Dems.
“There is not a single sign that Iraq is improving. To the contrary, every indication is that it’s getting worse, and a smaller force will do nothing to change that. How many more Americans must die before we leave an Iraq that will be no better off than it is today? And in a war where American troops are the number one target, who are the poor souls you’re going to leave behind? We need to bring them all home.”
How many poor souls, indeed. It will be interesting to see what the blow back will be on this speech. The GOPers are sure to attack back immediately with accusations of “surrender monkey.” More interesting will be the reaction of Dems. In a sense, we are seeing a repeat of 1968 and 1972 again in which there is no lack of anger and anti-war resolve but varying shades of disagreement about what to do.
“No air bases. No troops in the Green Zone. No embedded soldiers training Iraqi forces, because we all know what that means,” Richardson said. “It means our troops would still be out on patrol with targets on their backs. A regional crisis is worthy of military intervention. A true threat to our country’s security is worthy of war. But a struggle between a country’s warring factions, where both sides hate the United States, is not worthy of one more lost American life.”
This isn’t just a shot across the bow for fellow Dems: it’s also a major annoyance for the NeoCon empire-worshipping crowd who want to keep permanent bases in Iraq — and for the Bushies who now talk of a decades long Korea-type legacy for Iraq.
Kudos to Richardson for shaking up the debate.
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