A Democrat with an Iraq Strategy

Wes Clark is laying it out there in his op/ed today for the Washington Post.

First he lays out where he thinks we went wrong in Iraq. Yes, including the first mistake , the invasion. He includes errors of all varieties including. diplomacy, politics and military operations.

Then, he proposes alternative strategies. Not that I agree with all of them. Like - he still wants a military commitment of indefinite duration, but he does say we should renounce permanent bases. But there are specifics here and its a brief but fairly comprehensive proposal.

Read what he has to say that leads to this conclusion:

The growing chorus of voices demanding a pullout should seriously alarm the Bush administration, because President Bush and his team are repeating the failure of Vietnam: failing to craft a realistic and effective policy and instead simply demanding that the American people show resolve. Resolve isn't enough to mend a flawed approach -- or to save the lives of our troops. If the administration won't adopt a winning strategy, then the American people will be justified in demanding that it bring our troops home.

Clark may not be an officeholder (yet), but he made enough noise in '04 to be a major voice in the debate. Now it is time for the Decocrats that are "in" to pick up the gauntlet; 'fess up to mistakes if necessary; then, lead the way out of the bungled mess over there.

Chuck Hagel still says it most concisely and directly. "Stay the course is not a strategy".