The big story on the Sunday News Programs, MTP, FNW, and LE was the Iraqi Study Group.
Everyone wants things to be better and over in Iraq. The ISG has presented an analysis of the existing situation and made recommendations. They claim and the media has confirmed that their offering is a bipartisan report. The ISG should be commended for their work and participation.
On Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday and Late Edition the Congress did not make a good showing. It is most regrettable that the partisans in Congress could not come up with their own analysis and recommendations in a bipartisan way.
If all the Congressional person-trips to Iraq were added up....they would have dwarfed the number of person-trips made to Iraq by the ISG. While the ISG spent nine months to prepare their report. Congress spent more than nine months running for their political place in the House and Senate.
If things do not go well in Iraq, Congress will say: it was the ISG, it was the President, it was the ISG and the President, it was bad implementation, it was this, it was that, BUT it is not our fault.
If things do go well or OK: they'll trip over themselves trying to take credit for first recognizing the wisdom of whatever strategy did have success. First they'll claim wisdom for themselves. Then of their party. They have given little indication that they wish to be part of the solution, only that they can hold someone else responsible for things that don't go right.
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You are right about Congress; a complete inability to demonstrate any sort of spine or go out on any kind of a limb. And this extends well beyond Iraq and into...well, virtually everything else.
But I feel like the ISG is just an extension of that. Their criticism of the past is sharp, cutting, specific and coherent. But their "ideas and proposals" are really nothing. On the one had we could send more troops, on the other hand we could take some out. On the one hand we could engage Syria and Iran, on the other hand maybe not.
It doesn't actually make recommendations, it simply lays out all of the options and all of the things that could go wrong. None of that is new, it is just written now by different people.
This report was written by politicians, for politicians, and it has all the failings that come from that.
I'm not thrilled with the ISG reccommendations, although I do think they exceed those made by our elected representatives in Congress.
I'm fed up with Congress. They do as little as possible and yet are the first to complain about actions, opinions and policy - none of which they seem to be able to set forth as a body. I think the founders had something completely different in mind for us citizens.
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