Reply #7: I am not sure - I am concerned that too many Democrats will be too positive [View All]

[Mass]

on this report. I heard the press conference in the doctor's waiting-room and I was not really very happy with what I heard (not surprised either, I was not expecting anything and I got what I expected).

Sure, they had to present some ideas, and for that, they leaned heavily on Democratic ideas, including Kerry's and others'.

However, they still seek success in Iraq (what success??), they propose very little when it comes to troop redeployment and certainly no immediate change, and they certainly refuse the idea of a deadline.

I certainly agree with Hayden whose position Prosense posted earlier and with Feingold:

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_12_03_atrios_archive.html#116543027607955860.

Unfortunately, the Iraq Study Group report does too little to change the flawed mind-set that led to the misguided war in Iraq. Maybe there are still people in Washington who need a study group to tell them that the policy in Iraq isn’t working, but the American people are way ahead of this report.

While the report has regenerated a few good ideas, it doesn’t adequately put Iraq in the context of a broader national security strategy. We need an Iraq policy that is guided by our top national security priority – defeating the terrorist network that attacked us on 9/11 and its allies. We can’t continue to just look at Iraq in isolation. Unless we set a serious timetable for redeploying our troops from Iraq, we will be unable to effectively address these global threats. In the end, this report is a regrettable example of ‘official Washington’ missing the point.

I do not think we want the ownership of the ideas that were presented. Sure, some change is better than nothing, but what was presented was a hodgepodge of ideas that seem to be there to present a solution without going against Bush (I agree fully with this comment from Kerry this morning, but I do not know what else he has been saying about the plan - I would hope he was not too positive).