Yesterday's violence in Iraq may well mark another downward turn in the civil war that our troops are currently caught in. The
Askariya Shrine in Samarra - whose gold dome was destroyed over a year ago, marking a
previous rise in sectarian violence - was attacked and its
two minarets were
destroyed (see side-by-side pictures of the Shrine courtesy of the
New York Times). Sadly, the bombing is already increasing the
level of violence in Iraq and
decreasing any chance for the Iraqi parliament to make progress towards the political benchmarks that have already been set for them.
Confusing as it may be,
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow thinks a further descent into violence and chaos in the Iraqi civil war is actually a sign of American success:
It does fit a pattern that we see throughout the region, which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.
Were it that we were so lucky as to have violence be a sign of success and not failure. Unfortunately the surge has not worked - violence in Iraq has actually risen since the Bush administration initiated an escalation of America's presence in Iraq this winter. A Congressional study was just released documenting
this rise in violence. And thus, contrary to what Mr. Snow would like us to believe, yesterday's violence, like the violence of the day before it and the day before that, is only a sign of the absence of a workable plan in Iraq.
The White House needs to be honest with the American public. This sort of lipstick-on-a-pig rhetoric does a disservice to the American people and the troops serving in harms way in Iraq.
It's time for America to recognize that the surge of troops has not worked. What we need now, to borrow Senator Dodd's words, is a clear plan for Iraq that includes an enforceable deadline for responsibly redeploying America's troops out of Iraq. In
April Senator Dodd said:
It is time to bring an end to a war that at every turn has failed to make America safer.
The hour is late. It is time to begin putting our country on a more secure path.
The moment has arrived for leadership that stands up and announces without equivocation that prolonging this war will not make us more secure – ending it will.
The best way to end the Iraq war is to pass the Dodd Amendment onto the Defense Authorization Bill. The Amendment will start responsibly redeploying our combat troops from Iraq immediately and complete the process by the end of March 2008, using the Congressional power of the purse to ensure that our troops are brought home to the heros welcome they deserve. The Dodd Amendment will also require the Bush administration to report to Congress on the progress of the redeployment and make funding for the Iraq war contingent on the progress of the drawdown of forces.
America needs leaders with conviction to put our country on a more secure path. The time for denial and misrepresentation has long passed. Senator Dodd is offering bold leadership on the most important issue facing America today. It's time for us to stand up with him.
