" the anguish of trying to define a Democratic alternative."

[dajoki]

WP
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10328008

Democrats find Iraq alternative elusive
Party’s foreign policy experts differ on how to shift U.S. policy

By Robin Wright

Updated: 11:04 p.m. ET Dec. 4, 2005

<<snip>>

Problem felt in campaign war rooms
The difficulty that the Democratic foreign-policy elite has in coming together around a crisp alternative to the Bush administration has consequences that echo beyond the warren of think tanks, universities and consulting shops where most of its members now bide their time. On complicated policy questions, candidates and elected officials usually turn to respected and experienced policy experts to fashion their own platforms.

Highlighting the lack of consensus, some Democrats advocate withdrawing apace to change the dynamics in Iraq and the Middle East -- and to avoid getting bogged down or discrediting the United States. Others argue that it is a mistake to even talk about a timed drawdown. In between, still others propose an initial cut, while keeping a sizable force in Iraq or the region to promote stability and avoid repeating the Afghanistan debacle of the 1990s that helped produce Taliban rule.

The biggest common denominator was the anguish of trying to define a Democratic alternative.

"I believe the assessment that if we pull out it will leave an unsettled situation that is bad for the neighborhood and bad for us. Therefore I'd be willing to stay longer if I believed what we're doing would lead to progress in six to 12 months," said former defense secretary William J. Perry. "But I have not seen that evidence, so I'm skeptical that it will. . . . So it may be what we're pursuing, if not effective, then there's no point to it."

A call for withdrawal
Zbigniew Brzezinski is emerging as the most outspoken Democratic policymaker with an unambiguous alternative. He says it is time for Washington to "bite the bullet" and withdraw U.S. troops "rapidly," no later than the end of 2006. A more prolonged disengagement would put remaining U.S. troops in jeopardy.