Winning The Peace In Iraq
More than a year ago, President Bush stood on an aircraft carrier under a banner that proclaimed "mission accomplished." But today we know that the mission is not accomplished, hostilities have not ended and our men and women in uniform stand almost alone with the target squarely on their backs.
Our military performed brilliantly in the war's first mission: ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. Today, Americans share a desire for Iraqis to live with the blessings of democracy and security. John Kerry and John Edwards have a practical plan to win the peace in Iraq and bring our troops home.
We must change course in Iraq. Having gone to war, we cannot afford to fail at peace. The United States must take immediate measures to prevent Iraq from becoming a failed state that inevitably would become a haven for terrorists and a destabilizing force in the Middle East.
John Kerry and John Edwards will make the creation of a stable and secure environment in Iraq our immediate priority in order to lay the foundations for sustainable democracy. That is the right way to get the job done and bring our troops home. John Kerry and John Edwards believe the following principles should guide American policy in Iraq right now and that if these steps are not taken, options in the future will become more limited. This needs to be an urgent agenda to:
Internationalize, because others must share the burden;
Train Iraqis, because they must be responsible for their own security;
Move forward with reconstruction because that's an important way to stop the spread of terror; and
Help Iraqis achieve a viable government, because it is up to them to run their own country.
INTERNATIONALIZING TO SHARE THE BURDEN
After insulting allies and shredding alliances, this President does not have the trust and confidence to bring others to our side in Iraq. But we must rebuild and lead strong alliances so that others will share the burden with us in Iraq and elsewhere.
John Kerry and John Edwards believe the President needs to:
Persuade NATO to make the security of Iraq one of its global missions and to deploy a portion of the force needed to secure and win the peace in Iraq.
Convene a summit of the world's major powers as well as states in the region, and key Arab and Muslim nations, followed by a standing Contact Group to consult on the way forward, and press them to make good on the steps called for in UN Security Council Resolution 1546: providing troops; providing trainers for Iraq's security forces; providing a special brigade to protect the U.N. mission; and providing more financial assistance and real debt relief. Offer potential troop contributors specific and relatively low-risk but critical roles, such as training Iraqi security personnel and securing Iraq's borders.
Give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq's oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts instead of locking them out of the reconstruction process.
TRAINING IRAQI SECURITY FORCES
Last February, Secretary Rumsfeld claimed that more than 210,000 Iraqis were in uniform. Two weeks ago, he admitted that claim was off by more than 50 percent. Iraq, he said, now has 95,000 trained security forces. Neither number bears any relationship to the facts. By the administration's own minimal standards, just 5,000 soldiers have been fully trained. And of the 32,000 police now in uniform, not one has completed a 24-week field-training program.
John Kerry and John Edwards believe the President needs to:
Provide incentives to improve and accelerate military and police recruitment.
Expand urgently the security forces training program inside and outside Iraq by establishing a single, common template for police training and another for military training, and enlisting our NATO allies to open training centers in their countries. Recruit thousands of qualified trainers from our allies, especially those who have no troops in Iraq.
Strengthen the vetting of Iraqi recruits, double classroom training time, and require follow-on field training.
DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING A RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM THAT BRINGS MORE BENEFITS TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE
The Bush administration admitted that its plan was a failure when it asked Congress for permission to radically revise spending priorities in Iraq. It took 17 months for them to understand that security is a priority; 17 months to figure out that boosting oil production is critical; 17 months to conclude that an Iraqi with a job is less likely to shoot at our soldiers. One year ago, the administration asked for and received $18 billion to help the Iraqis and relieve the conditions that contribute to the insurgency. Today, just 5 percent of those funds have actually been spent.
John Kerry and John Edwards believe the President needs to:
Internationalize the non-Iraqi reconstruction personnel in Iraq to share the costs and burdens, end the continuing perception of a U.S. occupation, and help coordinate reconstruction efforts, draft the constitution and organize elections.
Order U.S. officials to cut through the red tape, reassess the whole reconstruction package and act on high-visibility, quick impact projects on the local level.
Work with our allies to forgive Iraq's multi-billion dollar debts.
Use more Iraqi contractors and workers, instead of big corporations like Halliburton.
Stop paying companies under investigation for fraud or corruption.
Fire the civilians in the Pentagon responsible for mismanaging the reconstruction effort.
TAKING ESSENTIAL STEPS TO HOLD PROMISED ELECTIONS NEXT YEAR AND PUT IRAQ ON PATH TO DEMOCRACY
Credible elections are key to producing an Iraqi government that has the support of the Iraqi people and an assembly to write a Constitution that yields a viable power sharing arrangement. Because Iraqis have no experience holding free and fair elections, the President agreed six months ago that the U.N. must play a central role. Yet today, just four months before Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls, the U.N. Secretary General and administration officials themselves say the elections are in grave doubt because the security situation is so bad. Not a single country has offered troops to protect the U.N. elections mission, and the U.N. has less than 25 percent of the staff it needs in Iraq to get the job done.
John Kerry and John Edwards believe the President needs to:
Recruit troops from our friends and allies for a U.N. protection force, and train Iraqis to manage and guard the polling places that need to be opened so that U.S forces do not have to bear that burden alone.
Disburse immediately critical funds for election preparations.
Convene a regional conference with Iraq's neighbors in order to secure a pledge of respect for Iraq's borders and non-interference in Iraq's internal affairs.
Help Iraqis establish a constitutional process for negotiating long-term power sharing arrangements between Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites.
Invest in long-term capacity-building and training for political parties and civil society groups.
Prioritize training for the legal and judicial sectors.
Related Links
John Kerry's Speech at NYU: A Plan to Win the Peace and Avoid Failure in Iraq
John Kerry's Op-Ed: A Realistic Path in Iraq
New York Times Editorial: Another Vision of Iraq
Iraq Press Releases
Statement by John Kerry on the Transfer of Sovereignty in Iraq
Statement of John Kerry on Building International Support for Our Mission in Iraq
Kerry Statement on Iraq
Kerry Calls for New Strategy in Iraq During Democratic Radio Address
edited to add....from the JohnKerry.com website
