" the anguish of trying to define a Democratic alternative."

WP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10328008

Democrats find Iraq alternative elusive
Party’s foreign policy experts differ on how to shift U.S. policy

By Robin Wright

Updated: 11:04 p.m. ET Dec. 4, 2005

<<snip>>

Problem felt in campaign war rooms
The difficulty that the Democratic foreign-policy elite has in coming together around a crisp alternative to the Bush administration has consequences that echo beyond the warren of think tanks, universities and consulting shops where most of its members now bide their time. On complicated policy questions, candidates and elected officials usually turn to respected and experienced policy experts to fashion their own platforms.

Highlighting the lack of consensus, some Democrats advocate withdrawing apace to change the dynamics in Iraq and the Middle East -- and to avoid getting bogged down or discrediting the United States. Others argue that it is a mistake to even talk about a timed drawdown. In between, still others propose an initial cut, while keeping a sizable force in Iraq or the region to promote stability and avoid repeating the Afghanistan debacle of the 1990s that helped produce Taliban rule.

The biggest common denominator was the anguish of trying to define a Democratic alternative.

"I believe the assessment that if we pull out it will leave an unsettled situation that is bad for the neighborhood and bad for us. Therefore I'd be willing to stay longer if I believed what we're doing would lead to progress in six to 12 months," said former defense secretary William J. Perry. "But I have not seen that evidence, so I'm skeptical that it will. . . . So it may be what we're pursuing, if not effective, then there's no point to it."

A call for withdrawal
Zbigniew Brzezinski is emerging as the most outspoken Democratic policymaker with an unambiguous alternative. He says it is time for Washington to "bite the bullet" and withdraw U.S. troops "rapidly," no later than the end of 2006. A more prolonged disengagement would put remaining U.S. troops in jeopardy.

we should send Demo sentors to the Middle East to sale a plan to resolve the war. As eager as the Arab world wants us out of Iraq and the Middle East.
We should offer a role for the Arabs to take over the role of peacekeeper in Iraq. So we can pull out with our heads high and call
mission over.

but our dem leaders are afraid to look weak. it takes a strong person to admit they are wrong, something i haven't seen , with very few exceptions.

Now is the time to move not in 08. Moments and minutes ,days weeks and years are measured in lives...The American people want leadership
we need to stop worrying how we look and how we will react to the bush gameplan and step out on the thin ice,show the American people that Leaders like JFK still lives in the demo party and are ready to lead.

but where do we find him/her.

In the young. Somewhere in the party is a driven leader. We need to seek out the talent. Old men don't fight wars or lead the charge.
There are lot of heroes coming out of Iraq.Who have shown their steel and courage and lead. One of them is our man.

but he/she must stand out above everyone.

He's also as oil and strategic dominance driven as any of the more rational PTB. In fact, in his book The Grand Chessboard, he advocated a pattern of resource dominance in Eastern Europe and Western Asia that's almost as vicious and mercenary as the neocons. If there were any way to dominate Iraq without destroying ourselves, he'd be advocating for it because of its strategic position and oil resources. If he's telling the Dems to advocate getting the fuck out, they'd be well advised to listen closely to what he has to say.

Democrats have no plan

Democrats have no plan

Democrats have no plan

Democrats have no plan

Pssst, they all call for a drawdown with 12 months with varying degrees of a small force for emergencies.

Democrats have no plan

Democrats have no plan

Democrats have no plan

Don't forget now

Democrats have no plan

Because if you can't see that you're being bamboozled with this "no plan" garbage, you must be drunk on something.

You do realize the media could take 15 speeches that all said the same thing, pull out quotes from all 15, and tell you they all said something different. And that they do it to Democrats all the time. Right?

sams old, same old.

harping on this.

Diversionary tactics. Who has the power to make it happen? The rummy one, the dummy one, and crummy (Condi) one.

And how many Democrats have proposed, backed, advocated some alternative or general guidelines?

Many.

So Newt had a phrase: Contract for America. What did it amount to?

Nada, nothing, zilch, zero, bupkis, less than nothing...

Are we not playing their game by participating in this?