Iraq: Everyone's Problem

After a tepid speech yesterday by Harry Reid, during which all he managed to say about Iraq was "we need a plan to start bringing" our troops home," I wondered what Gary Hart was thinking. The former senator—and outspoken critic of the war from the beginning—was standing in the wings watching the Senate minority leader speak to a packed room at the Take Back America Conference. About Reid's failure to articulate any kind of concrete strategy on Iraq, Hart complained, "They [the Democrats] don't think they have a responsibility" to develop a way forward on Iraq. Hart explained that Reid is trying to acommodate the big constituency in his party that somehow believes it's smart politics to leave Iraq to the Republicans. They want the Republicans "to hang themselves" on Iraq. It's the Republicans' mess, thinks most of the party. They should clean it up.

Wrong. The U.S. casualty rate might hit 2,500 today, according to CodePink. With thousands of U.S. troops and Iraqi civilians getting injured and dying daily, this war is the responsibility of every lawmaker. Especially those who voted for it.

And Hillary Clinton's remarks on Iraq this morning surprised no one. CodePink was expected to protest because of Clinton's unrelenting support for the war in Iraq, but held back thinking they'd get a chance to voice opposition during a Q&A session that never happened. Afterwards, CodePink's Kate Heald criticized Clinton for not having signed on to any resolution to bring the troops home, and effectively supporting the war in her speech: "I don't understand how her position is any different from George Bush's."

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