Negotiating Occupation

This interview with Andrew Card is a masterpiece of muddled thinking as he tries to explain the difference between a “time horizon” and a “timeline.” Muddled thinking is another way of saying bullshit artistry, of course.

He throws in a couple of other little masterpieces which are sort of skipped over in the hyperventilation over the “time horizon” imbroglio.

He says that this is all part of a “..negotiation with the Iraqi government.” That phrase is a clear statement that the Iraqi government and our government are not on the same side. The Iraqi people have been wanting us to leave for a long time, now, and it seems that the Iraqi government has come around to that same point of view. Our government is furiously denying that. Our government is actually negotiating with the government of the nation we are occupying to persuade it to agree to allow us to continue that occupation.

The other thing that Andrew Card said that was noteworthy was that in the course of these negotiations, “the President will take his direction from the military leaders on the ground.” This has been a recurring theme of this administration, that foreign policy is influenced by military leaders.

The decision as to whether or not we will occupy a sovereign nation by military force or whether, once begun, we will continue that occupation is a policy decision that should not be made or influenced by the military. Prior to that decision military leadership should be consulted as to whether or not the policy is possible. Once that decision is made the military leadership should be consulted on the best method of implementation of that policy. But the desirability of that decision is a civilian decision and the military leadership should make no input to that aspect of the decision whatsoever. Likewise, the decision as to when to end that policy is a civilian decision and the military leadership should make no input to that aspect of the decision whatsoever.

This is not a gray area. It is a straightforward as is the decision as to whether or not to start a war. The military may not decide to go to war, and it may not decide foreign policy. Yet this administration endlessly defers to “military leaders on the ground” to dictate our position with respect to a foreign, sovereign government.