The current neoconservative regime has exploited the nation's concerns about terrorism and used these concerns to push a radical agenda that is anything but rational when it comes to national security. While the war in Afghanistan was still incomplete, the government used the September 11 tragedy as an excuse to wage a pre-emptive war on Iraq, a country ,which, a report of the Senate Intelligence Committee concludes, did not harbor terrorists nor engage in the production of weapon's of mass destruction. To make matters worse, the war in Iraq has lead to increased radicalization within the country and an increase of terrorism in the Middle East according to a recently released National Intelligence Estimate.
The consequences of the war in Iraq were not unpredicted. Military experts knew that the occupation would require serious long-term troop commitment and a concrete exit strategy. However, in a desire to "sell" the war to the American public, the administration deliberately painted a far rosier picture than the reality of the situation. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that "the idea that [the war] would take several hundred thousand U.S. forces I think is far from the mark" and that "The war could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
Real military and regional experts painted a different picture. General Erik Shinseki suggested several hundred thousand troops would be necessary to minimize postwar disorder during the occupation, reports USA Today. A state department pre-war memo found on the George Washington University web site stated that the central command's war plans were focused on short-term military objectives and did not consider adequately the post-invasion needs in the country. There was no shortage of planning to win the war, but plans to "win the peace" were woefully lacking.
Why was no meaningful plan made for post war Iraq? It wasn't because the military didn't find it necessary. Rather, it was due to the brazen incompetence of the military's civilian leadership. Brigadier General Mark Scheid was the chief of the logistics war plans division at the Pentagon. When his team tried to plan for the post war occupation, they were specifically instructed not to do sodby the secretary of Defense himself. Said Scheid, "I remember the secretary of defense saying that he would fire the next person that said that [the war required long term planning]." The fact that Rumsfeld, who presided over one of the most poorly planned invasions in our nation's history, is still in command is a telling reminder that our current leadership cares more about its political problems than the state of the war.
Congress also is complicit in the administration's gaffes. It has provided no meaningful oversight and served as a rubber stamp for the executive agenda. While a resolution has been introduced calling for the Secretary of Defense to resign, the Republican majority has blocked a vote on the matter, according to the L.A. Times. When considering controversial national security policies, such as NSA wiretapping or detention procedures, Congress has been extraordinarily deferential to the administration. Consider Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee with regard to wiretaps. The GOP-led committee declined to make Gonzalez testify under oath. This decision was made over the objection of every Democrat on the panel. However, since the GOP holds a majority, it was able to allow unsworn testimony and render meaningless what should have been a serious discussion about anti-terror policies. Congress recently forced through a vote on controversial detention procedures to force Democrats to either vote against a "national security bill" or endorse torture and eliminate the right of detainees to challenge their detentions in court, two things the Bush administration has been adamant about maintaining. This bill passed despite the strong objection of such military and diplomatic leaders as former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, reports CNN.
The Bush administration and Republican Congress would like America to believe that only Republicans can be trusted with protecting the nation. If one examines the evidence, however, it is apparent that the GOP has consistently chosen politics over security. The nation went to war with faulty intelligence and poor planning because the case for war could not have been made if the intelligence was reviewed and the true human cost revealed. Congress has refused to provide a check on the power of the executive, and has enabled the administration to take the country down a dangerous path. More terrorists are being created in Iraq every day, and yet our troops still languish there with no real plan for victory. America cannot trust the GOP to keep the nation safe because it has consistently placed politics over planning. Only a Democratic-controlled Congress will provide real oversight of the dangerously incompetent executive branch. Consider this when you go to the polls on November 7.
Eamonn Hart '09 is a member of the Bowdoin College Democrats.