REPORT: PUD'S STUDY GROUP
James Baker’s Iraq Study Group report has already failed.
There is no particular change even suggested by the White House or by Congress.
Everyone’s wringing their hands. The official wisdom of TV punditocracy is that Iraq’s a mess, so we have to stay there and un-mess it. Exactly how long we stay there or how un-messed it has to be before we leave is still an open question.
In terms of strategy, or prognosis, this represents NO CHANGE.
The editorial board at SF WILLIE’S BLOG anticipated the ISG’s failure and so we commissioned our own Study Group, a blue ribbon panel headed by our own senior statesman, Pudinhand Wilson, which we’ve been calling “Pud’s Study Group.”
The ISG report from Baker et.al. had a long historical preamble explaining how the status quo obtained.
Pud’s Study Group report has a similar preamble, but reduced to two sentences:
The U.S. invasion of Iraq was a war crime, a crime against peace.
The continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is a war crime.
Whereas Baker’s report has seventy-nine recommendations, the PSG report has only one :
Immediate, complete, unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and “coalition” troops from Iraq.
The PSG assumed that the press might have some difficulty "interpreting" the meaning of the recommendation, so they prepared the following FAQs:
Q. When should U.S. troops start withdrawing from Iraq?
A. Immediately, right now, without delay.
Q. How many, what proportion of U.S. troops should be withdrawn?
A. All of them, 100%, no exceptions.
Q. What should the U.S. demand in return for its withdrawal from Iraq?
A. Nothing.
The editorial board has studied the report, in full, and has endorsed it unanimously.
There is no particular change even suggested by the White House or by Congress.
Everyone’s wringing their hands. The official wisdom of TV punditocracy is that Iraq’s a mess, so we have to stay there and un-mess it. Exactly how long we stay there or how un-messed it has to be before we leave is still an open question.
In terms of strategy, or prognosis, this represents NO CHANGE.
The editorial board at SF WILLIE’S BLOG anticipated the ISG’s failure and so we commissioned our own Study Group, a blue ribbon panel headed by our own senior statesman, Pudinhand Wilson, which we’ve been calling “Pud’s Study Group.”
The ISG report from Baker et.al. had a long historical preamble explaining how the status quo obtained.
Pud’s Study Group report has a similar preamble, but reduced to two sentences:
The U.S. invasion of Iraq was a war crime, a crime against peace.
The continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is a war crime.
Whereas Baker’s report has seventy-nine recommendations, the PSG report has only one :
Immediate, complete, unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and “coalition” troops from Iraq.
The PSG assumed that the press might have some difficulty "interpreting" the meaning of the recommendation, so they prepared the following FAQs:
Q. When should U.S. troops start withdrawing from Iraq?
A. Immediately, right now, without delay.
Q. How many, what proportion of U.S. troops should be withdrawn?
A. All of them, 100%, no exceptions.
Q. What should the U.S. demand in return for its withdrawal from Iraq?
A. Nothing.
The editorial board has studied the report, in full, and has endorsed it unanimously.
This is the first time in the history of SF WILLIE’S BLOG that the board has agreed on anything. Pud says that makes it ex cathedra.
Summary
SFWILLIE’S BLOG urges the immediate, complete, unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and “coalition” troops from Iraq.
----- o -----
2 comments:
Good recommendations - I like the stress on leaving entirely - but I'm afraid you don't go far enough. I think the U.S. should pay reparations administered by the Iraqis to help rebuild the country.
You're completely correct, Markley. We do owe them reparations. But first we have to get out completely. lest our "reparations" turn into more military action.
Post a Comment