POTUS Gets Tough
By Oliver North
January 12, 2007
Page 2 of 2
There is no assurance that Congress will actually authorize or fund essential increases in our Army and Marine Corps. While Bush called for "talented American civilians" to deploy overseas to "build democratic institutions," he did not place the rest of the U.S. government on a war footing. Even now, the only Americans fighting this war are soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines.
Though he called on Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states to recognize how threatened they are by an American defeat in Iraq, there is no indication that these governments are willing to accept reality. Dispatching Condoleezza Rice to the region may help, but only if our "diplomats" refrain from tying success in Iraq to resolving "the Arab-Israeli dispute." Instead of sending our Secretary of State to the Mid-East, it might have been more fruitful for her to visit some of our new NATO allies with an appeal for more troops, and ordering most of the State Department to serve in Iraq.
But the greatest vulnerabilities to Bush's strategy reside in Baghdad and Washington. By endorsing "Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November," Bush has defined a timeline and created political expectations here at home that the Maliki administration may be unwilling or unable to fulfill.
Though I have documented the bravery of Iraqi police and soldiers defending their own streets from terrorists, their courage has not been matched by elected officials in Baghdad. If Maliki fails to deliver on promises to crack down on the militias, equitably distribute oil wealth, reform his ministries, pay his soldiers and police and "create new jobs" in the next 10 months, the plan will collapse -- no matter how many U.S. troops we send to Iraq. At that point the new leaders in Congress will likely launch an effort -- as they did in 1974 with Vietnam -- to cut off funding, and thereby ensure disaster.
Finally, Bush noted that the days ahead "will demand more patience, sacrifice and resolve." That's undoubtedly true. Hopefully, the "author of liberty" to whom he appealed will grant at least patience and resolve to those in Congress who have forgotten the words to that great old hymn.
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Oliver North is the host of "War Stories" on the FOX News Channel.
COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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