Obama emphasized that message when he reiterated the Democrats' plan on Monday. "I have long said that the only solution in Iraq is a political one," he said. He argued that the United States must "communicate clearly and effectively to the factions in Iraq that the days of asking, urging and waiting for them to take control of their own country are coming to an end."
Obama also tried to establish a degree of separation between his party and any real action on the ground in Iraq, noting that the president should take the lead, the military should help decide how many troops should leave and when, and the timetable for the plan should not be "overly rigid."
"The president should announce to the Iraqi people that our policy will include a gradual and substantial reduction in U.S. forces," Obama insisted. "He should then work with our military commanders to map out the best plan for such a redeployment and determine the precise levels and dates."
The cautious Democratic approach is partly based on cold mathematical and legislative reality. Given their razor-thin majority in the Senate, it is unlikely that the Democrats could pass through Congress anything more than a non-binding statement. "The non-binding resolution is a proposal that the president admit that he had been wrong," explained David Rohde, a professor of political science at Duke University. "Trying to impose that on the president given the numerical balance of Congress is not possible." And there are few instruments Congress can use to force a change even if one could be agreed on by both parties, since tactical control over the war rests in the hands of the president. Democrats could cut funding for the war and thus force a pullout, but they've already admitted they have little appetite for that gambit.
Not only is there a limited amount that Democrats can do, political experts said Democrats don't necessarily want to do much either. The war in Iraq runs the obvious risk of becoming a total failure, and Democrats, long called weak on defense by their Republican opponents, don't want to be the party that "lost the war" come future elections. Through a non-binding suggestion, Democrats leave the real decision-making up to the president -- and the black mark goes on his record if and when the United States officially loses.
"Basically, what they are saying is lay down a marker, but put all the substance in the hands of the president," remarked Douglas Foyle, a political science professor at Wesleyan University. "I think it is politics." Foyle said polls show that 60 percent of Americans are in favor of "some level of troop reductions. This is the Democrats running with that sentiment and taking political advantage." Added Duke's Rohde, "Like any other politician, the members would like to achieve their objectives without potentially taking the blame for it."
And by keeping their position on what to do in Iraq both aggressive-sounding but ambiguous, Democrats hope to maintain the political momentum they generated during the elections without much risk of making the wrong policy choice. "They basically ran on a platform of change, saying, 'We are going to be different.' But they were very vague on what 'different' was," explained Christopher Gelpi, another political science professor at Duke. "So they are wary of boxing themselves in. They do nothing but hurt themselves by making a commitment now."
"Politically it is a pretty astute policy," noted Foyle. "There is a question of whether they can pull it off."
About the writer
Mark Benjamin is a national correspondent for Salon based in Washington, D.C.
Story finder (3 ways to search Salon)
Salon Directory (browse by topic)