The Richardson Solution

"As Senators compromise, soldiers die."

Quite a powerful line.  Pretty much sums up how most of this country is thinking - why the heck is our majority party (elected to take stop this war) now thinking of compromising with this president and the GOP?

I took that line from Richardson -

"The time for deal-making is long past. We need real leadership in Washington to end this war and bring all of our troops home. The American people elected this Congress to create change and get us out of Iraq, and yet it still has not happened.

"Small concessions and Beltway brokered deals will only allow the bloodshed to continue. As Senators compromise, soldiers die.

"The longer our troops remain in Iraq, the longer we remain an excuse for the different groups in Iraq to avoid finding a political and diplomatic solution to the war.

"Our brave military has accomplished its mission. There is nothing more for them to do but to serve as targets for insurgents.

"I am the only major candidate who believes we should leave no residual forces in Iraq- zero. My opponents would leave behind an indeterminate number of residual forces.

"Only with a complete U.S. troop withdrawal -- supported by an all-Muslim U.N. peacekeeping force, aggressive regional diplomacy, and an Iraqi Reconciliation Conference to bring the different factions together -- can Iraq begin down the road toward security and stability."

Pay attention, netroots.  There is a Governor in the race, who, among countless domestic and foreign accomplishments may be one of the best grassroots campaigners this party has seen. (I'll cite the Guinness Book of World Records for that).  He also happens to be the most clearly in line with the American people on this war.  While Clinton and Obama wrestle endlessly with their Senate votes and Chris Dodd parlays his low-second tier status into positioning (and by the way -I AM NOT TRYING TO ELECT ANOTHER NORTHEASTERN LIBERAL AS PRESIDENT...so sorry Dodd lovers). 

Richardson is there.  He has the experience.  He makes jokes (sometimes bad ones, but more often funny) and is a real human being who has done great things for his home state.  I know I'm pretty biased, but damn.  It's pretty clear.

 

Great Iraq Debate Montage

This is great.  For awhile, I've been waiting for the Governor to hit his debate stride. I knew he had it in him - and we got to see it on display this Sunday.

This is a great Iraq debate montage - it shows the Governor (in the words of his Iowa Director) practically moderating the session.  The question:  How will the residual forces protect themselves?  That is a killer line and probably one we'll hear a few more times.

 

Richardsons's 7-point plan for Iraq

Now, we hear a lot from other candidates all the time about the Iraq war.  No other candidate has the credibility, plan and comprehensive solution to make it work.  Bill Richardson lays it out very clear:

Bill Richardson's 7 Point New Realism Plan for Iraq:

1. Troops Out in 2007: We should get our troops out of Iraq this year. Our continued presence there only enables the Iraqi factions to delay making the hard political choices they need to make to end the civil war.

2. No Residual Forces Left Behind: We must remove ALL of our troops. There should be no residual US forces left in Iraq. Most Iraqis, and most others in the region, believe that we are there for their oil, and this perception is exploited by both Al Qaeda and anti-American Shia groups. By announcing that we intend to remove all troops, we would deprive them of this propaganda tool.

3. Congressional De-Authorization of War: President Bush has demonstrated neither competence nor honesty nor a sense of reality in his conduct of this war. Congress is right to assert its constitutional authority, including the power of the purse and the power to authorize war, to force the President to change course.

If President Bush vetoes Congressional funding tied to disengagement, it is the President, not Congress, who is failing to fund the troops. Congress should respond by passing another bill which funds the troops but requires redeployment. I support the Feingold-Reid bill to force the President to end the war.

4. Promote Iraqi Reconciliation Conference: We should promote an Iraqi Reconciliation Conference to bring the factions together to seek compromises and to begin confidence-building measures, including the end of militia violence. Our redeployment will give us more leverage than we have now, caught in the crossfire, to get the Iraqis to reconcile.

5. Work With All Neighbors and Allies: We should convene a regional conference to secure the cooperation of all of Iraq's neighbors - including Syria and Iran -- in promoting peace and stability. Among the key objectives of such a conference should be guarantees of non-interference, as well as the creation of a multilateral force of UN peacekeepers, should the Iraqis request one.

6. Global Cooperation in Recontruction: We should convene a donor conference to fund Iraq's reconstruction. The United States needs to show the world that we intend to return to our tradition of being a trusted leader, not a unilateralist loner. The process of disengagement is an opportunity for us to show that we have turned the corner, and that we intend to rebuild our alliances, respect international law, and work with the international community.

7. Redeploy to Address Real Threats: We must redeploy some of our troops to stop the resurgence of the Taliban and to fight the real terrorists who attacked this country on 9-11. We also must bring our National Guard home where they are needed for homeland security, and we must focus our energy and resources on real threats, such as nuclear proliferation, Al Qaeda, public health, and global warming.

Any other candidate that clear?  Any other candidate making sure we don't have residual forces there prevenitng serious reconcilliation?  I know the only serious candidate is Richardson.

Pushing for Diplomacy

Richardson acknowledges good and then asks for more:

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson said Friday that President Bush should learn from recent successes with North Korea and engage in intense diplomatic negotiations in the Middle East to end the Iraq war.

"He finally used diplomacy and it works," Richardson said on the first day of a two-day visit to the early voting state of New Hampshire. "My hope is that he uses that lesson ... to talk to Syria about Hezbollah and Iraq, and that he talks to Iran about getting out of Iraq and stop their meddling there.

In case anyone forgot:

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will meet with two top North Korean officials this Friday, December 15, in Santa Fe. The North Koreans asked for the meeting with Governor Richardson to discuss the upcoming multi-lateral talks regarding the North Korean nuclear weapons program. The so-called six-party talks include North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States. They are scheduled to resume Monday, December 18, in Beijing, China. Two diplomats from the North Korean Mission to the United Nations, Minister Kim Myong Gil and First Secretary Song Se Il, have been granted permission by the US State Department to make the visit to Santa Fe.

Richardson, Iraq and Withdrawal

I know this has been blogged about before, but I wanted to make sure it was in the archives here.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Saturday night in Greenville that he doesn't "believe there is a military solution" to the Iraq insurgency.

Richardson, here for a political event, said the best course is to "tie a withdrawal to a political solution with all the ethnic groups," leaving only a small force in Iraq.

The potential 2008 Democratic presidential candidate told reporters that a withdrawal deadline -- this year or next -- should now be set and a redeployment to "trouble spots around the world ... Afghanistan, to fight international terrorism, to (neutralize) weapons of mass destruction. I would redirect some of those resources to protect our railways, our ports, airports, our homeland security."

Being a governor, Richardson is affored some leeway on this issue. It is however, becoming a fast limus test for those running for presiden and has some influence in the power behind Obama's candidacy. 

What would truly set the governor apart from the field would be an Eisenhower-like pledge to go over to Iraq and the broader Middle East to negotiate a peace of some sort.  No other candidate is credible on the issue of foreign diplomacy and it could even occur during a part of the primary campaign.  It may be seen as grandstanding - but grandstanding to save American and Iraqi lives may be all we have left.