Downing Street and a Lack of Vision

I have thus far avoid blogging about the Downing Street Memo, a document detailing the minutes of a meeting held by Tony Blair eight months before the War in Iraq. The memo suggests that the Bush administration had decided to go to war long before they told the public that they had exhausted all options and long before Congress passed a resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq. The document has received disturbingly little coverage in the American media, though it was printed in its entirety in The Times of London.

I feel strongly that Downing Street should be getting more stateside press. Unfortunately, while several unanswered questions remain about the cause of the mess in Iraq, the war has been going on for over two years, and no one is sure when or how we will be able to get out of it. We need to hold the administration accountable for what it started, but we also must look to the future.

Bear with me: Jim Wallis, in God's Politics argues that "protest is good, but alternatives are better." He uses the example of the prophet Habakkuk, who cried out to God in complaint, frustrated by the oppression and injustice he saw. God responded by telling the prophet to "write the vision." (See the first two chapters of Habakkuk.) Complaint is only constructive if it is accompanied by an alternative vision for the future.

I have heard and read plenty of arguments justifying the war or explaining why the war was not justified. On the other hand, I have heard and read very little about what to do now, about how to responsibly end this thing some day. Here are some suggestions:

We must be more contrite both about the abuse at Abu Ghraib and about the killing of thousands of Iraqi civilians (mostly unintended) by American soldiers. At the very least, a sincere apology will be necessary if we are to regain (or just gain) the trust of the Iraqi people.

Deploy more troops in the short term, but give the Iraqi people and the world a clear indication that we plan to leave as soon as possible. Granted, Bush has said plainly that we won't stick around longer than is necessary, but no one believes him. We need to show the global community that we have a viable exit strategy. In the meantime, we must strengthen our forces if we are to secure the nation's most volatile areas and to cut down on unnecessary civilian deaths.

I found this article from Newsweek very informative.

I am by no means an expert on foreign policy, so let me know if I am entirely out of line. Regardless of whether or not my ideas have any merit, the future of Iraq is a subject that warrants serious public debate.