Where's the Plan?
Reported by Eleanor - September 12, 2004 -
CBS Face the Nation with Bob Schiefer (Sept. 12, 10:30 a.m.) reported a more detailed story on Iraq than I have been hearing on Fox. The story noted that Baghdad is getting worse. Insurgents hold large parts of the country. Schiefer asked if the president believes the election will happen in January if this continues. Barry Peterson reported on the ceaseless bombs and explosions with scores wounded in the Green Zone. Schiefer asked if the insurgents are closing in on Baghdad. Peterson replied, "I get that impression."
Schiefer said to Condolezza Rice that we seem to have less control than in June. She said the "Iraqis are moving right along." Schiefer responded that there are "87 attacks a day on average." Rice said the attacks go up and down over time. We are continuing to pound enemy positions. It's not right to say there is no political activity.
Michael Duffy, Time's Washington Bureau Chief, asked Rice if there is a plan. Rice replied that the strategy has both political and military elements. The political strategy won in Najaf, and they were defeated militarily. When Duffy asked if the election will be held in January, Rice replied, "Yes, we have four months." When Schiefer asked about North Korea's nuclear weapons testing, Rice replied that's "a very bad mistake" (on the part of North Korea). Now we are in "six party talks," and they must abandon nuclear weapons.
Joe Biden made the following observations in response to Shiefer's questions. He doesn't agree that elections will be held in January. We control less of the country. The death toll is going up. There is no plan. He listed specific after specific with no plan. Duffy pressed him for Kerry's plan, and Biden responded that we're not talking about Kerry's plan. We can't wait for Kerry's plan. He was "dumbfounded" by both Rice and Rumsfeld's comments about the training of the Iraqi police. "Not one single policeman has completed his training."
Biden continued with the situation is clearly worse now, but would have more potential if the president would implement the U.N. resolutions about polling places, training of police, training the Iraqi army, and quit kidding about an election in January. We can't put in American troops because we don't have any. Also, we transferred sovereignty. If we come in, it creates more discomfiture (instead of less.) We must insist that the U.N. come in, but the president has so many miscalculations "no one trusts his judgment any more. What is the military policy?
Duffy asked,"If Kerry is elected, would other nations be more willing to come in? Why believe that?" Biden replied that "there is no possible way that Bush can get it done. There is some possibility that Kerry can do it. Every day it gets more difficult. We must do something now because the window of opportunity is closing," and it continues to close. "Why the president is unwilling to get the French, Germans and others to beef up their support is beyond me."
Schiefer quoted Bush as saying that if Kerry were president, Sadam Hussein would still be in power. Biden replied that "no one can know, but we would have more support to take him out. Everything is on the back burner except Iraq. Based on that test, Bush is not doing well at all."
Scheifer ended this segment with the observation that the money going into 527's is called "grass roots support,"and called the millions from the big money guys "pretty tall grass." It's just a way to get around the campaign finance laws. We need to throw them all out and start over; but the lawmakers won't crack down, because they might need these guys next time. (What a mess! How about a law putting people in jail who give even a thin dime, or its equivalent, to officeholders or candidates, and all campaign funding comes directly from tax dollars? Too simple for our legislators.)
Comment: The kind of reporting CBS did this morning lends some clarification to the Iraq story for me.
