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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

The Democracy Truce

The Moose offers a modest proposal for the Coalition of the Adults.

In the next three weeks, Iraqis will go to the polls to elect a government - a flawed government - but it will be a very rare exercise in democracy in that part of the world. It is a moment to be celebrated whatever your position on the war.

And it is also a moment when our leaders should be united in showing their support for the brave Iraqis who will risk their lives for an action that we take for granted - and for the American troops who will defend them. These democrats and our soldiers will be confronted by an assortment of Jihadist and Baathist terrorists who will seek to kill voters and disrupt the election.

Perhaps the most profound criticism of President Bush was his failure to pursue a politics of national unity in the aftermath of 9/11. Instead, he stuck with the Rovian model of bitter partisan polarization. Unfortunately, now that the President's numbers are plummeting along with the popularity of the war, some Democrats are pursuing their own highly polarized game plan by accusing the President of employing lies to bring us to war. Some who previously supported the war are kneeling at the altar of the anti-war left begging for forgiveness and joining the call for a precipitous pull-out.

It seems to the Moose that there should be a brief interval (3 weeks) when our leaders suspend their talk of withdrawal or "withdrawal lite- redeployment" and vocally indicate their support for Iraqi democracy. Progressives certainly should embrace this heroic act of choice and self-determination. Congress should pass a bi-partisan resolution in support of the Iraqi democrats. Hopefully this resolution should be sponsored by both supporters and opponents of the war. It is a notion that hopefully can bridge the gap over the wisdom of the war.

After the December 15th election, Congress will be free to resume the acrimonious fight over the war. And the debate over our future involvement is both necessary and essential. And there certainly should be more oversight.

After all, there is a precedent in war for a holiday pause or temporary truce - why not a brief democracy truce in a democratic republic. For one shining moment, can't politics stop at the water's edge?

Or is the Moose dreaming?
-- Posted at 8:24 AM | Link to this post | Email this post