The Iraq Debate & The Yova Option

Our representatives in Congress recently provided the people with some entertaining political theater by staging a debate about the future of U.S. involvement in Iraq. The party in power framed the debate in terms of “staying the course” vs. “cut and run”.

The side of the aisle that favors “staying the course” bases their position on the belief that the war in Iraq is being waged as part of the larger war on terrorism. They will argue that we are fighting “terrorists” in Iraq and Afghanistan so we don’t have to fight them here (this nonsense from men who never fought anyone “over there-anywhere”) and these are the“chicken hawks” who will accuse anyone disagreeing with this position as being a “cut and run” coward at best, unpatriotic at worse.

The other side favors withdrawal but disagree on whether or not to set a time table. They based their position on the belief that we have provided Iraq with an opportunity to control its own future and with the recent election of a government they are ready to provide their own security.

Disgraceful is one of the nicer words one can apply to describe those in the opposition who supported the death and destruction in Iraq and now want to “support the troops” by “bringing them home” without accepting responsibility for the carnage. All but a handful lack the courage to be patriotic by claiming it is the party in power that has been cutting and running from reality since the turn of the century.

In fact there was no debate in Congress over our future involvement in Iraq when the only issue to be determined is whether we “stay the course” or “cut and run” Either/Or positions that do nothing more and nothing less than divide people, opposites of the same coin.

The reality is there were no weapons of mass destruction to be found in Iraq, there was no effort by Iraq to obtain a nuclear arsenal, there was no imminent threat of Iraq to this country or its neighbors, there was no evidence of political alliance between Hussein’s Iraq and al-Qaeda, and there was absolutely no connection between Iraq and the events which occurred prior to and culminating in 9/11.

Those were the reasons we invaded Iraq. When they proved to be unsubstantiated fabrications the administration spin was that we were “bringing democracy to Iraq” in an attempt to conceal the act of regime change which George Bush claimed to reject before the Supreme Court selected him as President an act which proved we have no idea what “democracy” means here and yet we’re going to export “democracy” at the barrel of a gun over there.

In real politik the invasion of Iraq was prescribed in the 1998 document “Project for a New American Century” for the purpose of establishing a permanent military presence in the Middle-east to project “our national interests” by protecting the resources of the Middle-east based on a future assessment of increasing demands on oil by China and India. The same document acknowledged that such a course could only exist if something like Pearl Harbor occurred. Hey – no conspiracy here – I’m just following the script.


If we “stay the course” this is the reality we deny. If we “cut and run” we doom a people to a civil war and deny an ever increasing reality. A real debate would be based on the reality that we invaded Iraq without just cause, an acceptance that actions have consequences, and an acknowledgement that we now must accept responsibility for our actions because we can no longer stay the present course nor can we leave without losing all credibility as a great nation.

I offer The Yova Option:

1. The Congress of the United States, the people’s representatives will hold George Bush and his administration responsible for among other things the deceit and deception that preceded our invasion of Iraq and commence impeachment proceedings immediately so that Congress can regain its constitutional responsibility to declare war based on all of the facts.
2. The Justice Department will be ordered by the new administration to hand over this administration's officials to face charges of war crimes in an international court of law.
3. Iraq itself will be partitioned among Kurds (Turkey will have to be comforted), Sunnis, and Shias each autonomous as long as they recognize the autonomy of all other nation states, and each receiving equal shares from any oil resources as long as they are not manipulated to insure profit over people.
4. The U.S. will introduce a binding resolution in the U.N. that the security and safety of all Iraqis will be provided by U.N. peace keepers who will be financed by the United States and the “coalition of the willing” proportionally with matching funds from the U.N.
5. The troops who followed orders and the “contractors” who got paid much more to commit acts of death and destruction will be ordered to rebuild what they tore down in duty status, the troops that refused to fight will be stationed in Iraq and in charge of units assigned to rebuild the nation they invaded.
6. Congress will pass legislation mandating that Iraqi business will be in charge of rebuilding their country this will be financed by first the Bush family, his administration and their families, those in congress and their families that voted for a preemptive strike, etc., the companies that currently profit from this war, and finally myself and my fellow citizens whose taxpayer dollars financed this war from day one.
7. Reparations will be made to all who suffered a lose in Iraq and this government will commit itself to insuring every disabled veteran and disabled Iraqi citizen never goes without the proper medical care – never.