Iraq's top Sunni official has set a deadline of next week for pulling his entire bloc out of the government....Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi made his comments in an interview with CNN. He said if key amendments to the Iraq Constitution are not made by May 15, he will step down and pull his 44 Sunni politicians out of the 275-member Iraqi parliament.
I hate to be pessimistic about our Freedom and Democracy-building project in Iraq, ... but, given this top Sunni official's threat, shouldn't we at least consider the unwelcome possibility of political dissolution in Iraq? On the off chance we need to revise our definition of "victory" there and radically adjust the current objectives of our mission... do we have a "Plan B"?
Actually, yes. Thankfully, our Republican friends have already addressed that eventuality:
"I have no Plan B." -- John McCain, on his support for the Iraq surge, April 13, 2007.
"Plan B was to make Plan A work."-- Joint Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace, on Iraq, March 5, 2007.
"Plan B is to make Plan A work"-- President Bush, on Iraq, April 24, 2007.
"I don't think you go to Plan B. You work with Plan A." -- Secretary of State Rice, asked what the U.S. should do if the Iraqi government does not live up to its assurances, March 5, 2007.
"By the time we get to September or October, members are going to want to know how well this [Surge strategy] is working, and if it isn't, what's Plan B." -- House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), May 6, 2007.
In other words, it seems "Plan B" is basically waiting for political necessity to force Republicans to totally break from Duhbya, and adopt the "surrendercrat" positions which Dems are offering right now.
Wait. Hold the phone. I stand corrected. Apparently Rep Phil Gingrey (R-GA) says the Republicans DO in fact have a "Plan B". They definitely have one, it's just they need to keep it a secret so the enemy (and Dems and Independents and the media) won't find out. Rep. Gingrey explains:
Let's give victory a chance and then in August of 2008, if it's not working then, indeed, this President and the Republican majority from the last Congress, we do have a plan B. But we're not gonna give it to the enemy!Reassuring, huh?
Labels: Cons, GOP, Iraq morass