IRAQ, POLITICS, AND A HEALTHY SERVING OF HUMBLE PIE

In what has to be seen as a stunning reversal, the White House has sought to diminish expectations for what can be achieved in Iraq. With a sobering admission, the Bush administration has finally accepted that it will have to settle for much less than it had been hoping for, and touting.

Aims for a model democracy in the Middle East, a self-supporting oil industry, or a secure and economically stable society have essentially been dashed.

A senior official lamented, "What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground. We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."

"Shedding the unreality" seems to be a course of action that is long overdue.

It now appears that Islamic law, or Sharia, will take precedence over democracy in Iraq. There is the distinct possibility that women will not have equal rights in Iraq, but will instead face harsh restrictions.

After a Saddam/al Queada link were disproved, and in the absence of WMD, the invasion of Iraq was then justified by the lofty goal of establishing a secular and united nation that would honor human rights as well as ethnic and religious differences. That now seems quite unrealistic.

"We set out to establish a democracy, but we're slowly realizing we will have some form of Islamic republic," one U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity.

The process of trying to create national unity through the drafting of an Iraqi constitution is essentially being abandoned.

"We are definitely cutting corners and lowering our ambitions in democracy building," said Stanford University's Larry Diamond, who helped the U.S. occupation government develop a strategy for democracy in Iraq.

The administration originally expected U.S. soldiers to be greeted as liberators. But the unpredicted intensity of the insurgency, and a surge of foreign fighters, has compelled officials to repeatedly lower their expectations of how long it would take to suppress the insurgency, as well as establish a well-trained and unified Iraqi force capable of handling security on their own.

If the security problem needs to be made any more clear, killings of Iraqi security forces have tripled since January and Islamic extremists, convinced that beards reflect religious piety, are attacking barber shops and killing barbers.

Judith S. Yaphe, a former CIA Iraq analyst at the National Defense University, says "There has been a realistic reassessment of what it is possible to achieve in the short term and fashion a partial exit strategy. This change is dictated not just by events on the ground but by unrealistic expectations at the start."

According to officials, the administration no longer expects to be able to defeat the insurgency before withdrawing, but instead to weaken it. The idea of handing responsibility for security over to an Iraqi military that doesn't meet original U.S. expectations is gaining momentum.

But the President is attempting to show resolve. In a weekend radio address he said, "Iraqis are taking control of their country, building a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. And we're helping Iraqis succeed."

To that end, Iraqi forces appear to be growing in number. Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, charged with developing Iraqi security forces, says that more than 110 Iraqi police and army combat battalions - a total of 178,000 forces - have been trained and equipped since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Petraeus said he believes that progress is being made and that "Iraqis will save Iraq," which is clearly the current White House position.

US officials say that large scale military operations have resulted in hundreds of insurgents being killed, hundreds being captured, and many more being driven away. The problem is the majority of the insurgents eventually return.

One defense official said that that there are not enough troops — either American or Iraqi — to sweep, clear, and hold an area, and that they have to repeat the same operations again and again.

Roadside bomb attacks continue to be a primary concern. The use of improvised explosive devices has doubled over last the year, to about 30 a week.

Seven more US soldiers were killed over the weekend in a roadside bombing and a shooting, bringing the death total for US soldiers to 1850. Nearly 14,000 US troops have been wounded in action.

The escalating death toll in Iraq has negatively affected President Bush's polling numbers.  The President's standing with the American public is now lower than that of the last two men who won re-election to the White House (Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton) at this point in their second terms.

Bush's job approval in recent polls ranges from the low- to mid-40s, and was 42 percent in the latest AP-Ipsos poll. His approval ratings are at all-time lows on everything from handling Iraq to the economy to Social Security and other domestic issues.

But the partisan divide is stunning; 80 percent of Democrats disapprove of the President's overall performance while nearly 90 percent of Republicans approve.

Congressional Republicans are already worried about the 2006 election. If Bush's approval ratings continue to slide, more of them may be unwilling to go along with his major initiatives for fear of losing voters. Next year's elections could very well initiate, and expedite, the US withdrawal from Iraq. War ambitions may suddenly take a back seat to domestic political ambitions.

How very fickle. And that's certainly not a description that most Americans have come to associate with President Bush.

Copyright © 2005 The Independent Report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.

HEALTHCARE PREMIUMS

I found this data quite interesting:

Many Republicans contend that tort reform is necessary to curb the soaring costs of healthcare. Yet, the 15 leading insurance companies had a 5.7% increase in malpractice payouts from 2000 to 2004, while increasing premiums by 120% during that same period.

Thievery and lies.

"SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS" IN IRAQ?

One year after the handover of power to the democratically elected government of Iraq, and President Bush continues to assert that there's been "significant progress." But that's a very difficult argument to make in the face of day to day reality there.

Power generation was lower this June than it was last June; crude oil production is down; oil export revenues are down; only 37% of Iraqis have working sewer systems; many Baghdad neighborhoods have been without water for weeks at a time; and mile-long lines at gas stations are routine.

This is some good news, however. Average per capita incomes in Iraq shot up to $422 in 2004, from just $322 in 2003.

A MATTER OF SCIENCE...AND PRINCIPLES

During a House debate on easing restrictions of federal funding for stem cell research, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said that using leftover embryos from fertility clinics amounts to the "dismemberment of living, distinct human beings" because the embryos are destroyed during the research.

I was struck by the suggestion that embryos could be equated to "distinct human beings." It's an off-the-charts leap of logic. An embryo is no more a distinct human being than the egg in my refrigerator is a distinct chicken. They're not the same. Incredibly, there are idealogues in this country who put potential human life ahead of real, living human beings. And unfortunately, some of them are in positions of power. Given the opportunity, it sounds as if Delay would ban invitro fertilization as well.

With recent polls showing that roughly two-thirds of Americans support embryonic stem cell research, and a majority favor fewer restrictions on taxpayer funding of it, conservative politicians who pander to the religious right, like Delay, are clearly in the minority.

Senator Bill Frist, a powerful voice in American politics due to his position as Senate Majority Leader, was part of that vocal minority - until last week. In a stunning turnaround, Frist changed course and publicly reversed his position on this critical social issue. Breaking ranks with both President Bush and Representative Delay, Frist said, "It's not just a matter of faith, it's a matter of science."

I was both amazed and relieved. Putting science, or fact, ahead of faith may be a matter of reason and logic to some of us, but to others it's a truly novel idea. Thankfully, Frist has joined the ranks of the reasonable and the logical. Well, at least on this issue.

Earlier that week, Frist interrupted Senate debate on the defense authorization bill in order to call up a different piece of legislation. In his estimation, another bill demanded his colleagues immediate consideration. He assured them that this was a "very important" bill that absolutely required action before the Senate's August recess.  The reason Frist was willing to postpone consideration of the defense authorization bill until September - during a time of war? Frist was just doing the bidding of his patrons over at the National Rifle Association, arguing that it was critically important to consider new legislation shielding gun manufacturers from civil liability lawsuits. Yeah, that "very important" legislation.

Anyway, back to the stem cell topic.

Frist is said to be interested in a bid for the White House in 2008. His former position put him on the wrong side of the opinion polls, so he switched sides. Frist's turnabout came the same week that a group of stem cell research supporters, StemPAC, began a television campaign in New Hampshire, site of the first 2008 presidential primary, criticizing him for not scheduling a vote on the issue. Frist quickly announced that the Senate would debate and vote on the issue in the fall.

The Senator was said to have reached his decision after consulting with scientists at Stanford University and other research centers and while watching biomedical research advance overseas. Stem research could lead to jobs, patents, and lots and lots of money. Ask any politician; jobs good, money good.

Frist is a doctor, so one would assume he'd put science first, viewing it as paramount to sound decision making. Yet, he is the same Senator who attempted to diagnose Terri Schiavo from the Senate floor - via video - while she was in Florida! Ideology has a remarkable way of interfering with reason.

Who knows? Perhaps Frist really did have a genuine change of heart. In his estimation, only embryos that would otherwise be discarded should be used for the research. Those that could be adopted or implanted should not be used. This sounds reasonable to me. If they're going to be destroyed anyway, why not use them for the benefit of humanity first.

"I'm doing this as somebody who has convictions," Frist said. "This is not about politics. It is about policy. It is about principle. It is about human life."

Try telling that to President Bush. His principles seem to dictate that one should never change one's mind. At least not publicly. But suddenly, Bill Frist has principles. Well, that whole issue of pandering to the NRA and gun manufacturers aside.



Copyright © 2005 The Independent Report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.