Comments on: Micromanagement of War By Congress Not The Ideal Solution http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1281 Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:43:23 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Ron Chusid http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1281&cpage=1#comment-44587 Ron Chusid Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:35:43 +0000 http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1281#comment-44587 "But Ron, aren’t you not only wrestling control away from Bush, but also the commanders on the ground like Petraeus?" Not at all. The commanders on the ground are supposed to be under civilian control. That's the whole idea of a civilian President being Commander-in-Chief, and of Congress having oversight authority over the President. If you think that the threat of a withdrawal is good as long as the law isn't passed, the situation should make you happy. It is doubtful that this would get through the Senate, and even more doubtful that there are enough votes in either house to override a veto. There are obviously problems with a deadline set by Congress regardless of which side one is on with respect to the war. Hopefully you are right that this threat of withdrawal will have a positive impact on the Iraqi government, but I fear that as long as it only being threatened but not passed it might not really affect the Iraqi government. “But Ron, aren’t you not only wrestling control away from Bush, but also the commanders on the ground like Petraeus?”

Not at all. The commanders on the ground are supposed to be under civilian control. That’s the whole idea of a civilian President being Commander-in-Chief, and of Congress having oversight authority over the President.

If you think that the threat of a withdrawal is good as long as the law isn’t passed, the situation should make you happy. It is doubtful that this would get through the Senate, and even more doubtful that there are enough votes in either house to override a veto.

There are obviously problems with a deadline set by Congress regardless of which side one is on with respect to the war. Hopefully you are right that this threat of withdrawal will have a positive impact on the Iraqi government, but I fear that as long as it only being threatened but not passed it might not really affect the Iraqi government.

]]> By: Jeff http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1281&cpage=1#comment-44585 Jeff Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:29:40 +0000 http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=1281#comment-44585 But Ron, aren't you not only wrestling control away from Bush, but also the commanders on the ground like Petraeus? You're right I have no trust in Bush's ability to manage the war, but I do have trust in Petraeus. And right now he's implementing his plan. Is it wise to pull the rug from under him, especially when there's a few signs that maybe the current plan is having some success? If things were going worse, or if there was no sign at all of things changing I could agree. But there are a few signs. Although obviously not enough to determine a trend. Now let me clear. I think the Democrats provide a valuable service by holding the threat of withdrawal over the Iraqi government's head. And I believe it's that threat that has helped contribute to the small amount of political progress we saw last month. So while I don't want the Democratic proposal to be signed into law, I don't have a problem with the passing of the legislation. As long as we eventually get a supplemental that will fund the troops that don't have other aspects of the Democratic proposal that I think would be detrimental to the current plan succeeding. Anyways, I've been following your blog for a few weeks now, and respect you since you seem to be one of the few on either side who will either defend the other side when they should be defended, and criticize those on your side when they deserve criticism. But Ron, aren’t you not only wrestling control away from Bush, but also the commanders on the ground like Petraeus? You’re right I have no trust in Bush’s ability to manage the war, but I do have trust in Petraeus. And right now he’s implementing his plan. Is it wise to pull the rug from under him, especially when there’s a few signs that maybe the current plan is having some success? If things were going worse, or if there was no sign at all of things changing I could agree. But there are a few signs. Although obviously not enough to determine a trend.

Now let me clear. I think the Democrats provide a valuable service by holding the threat of withdrawal over the Iraqi government’s head. And I believe it’s that threat that has helped contribute to the small amount of political progress we saw last month. So while I don’t want the Democratic proposal to be signed into law, I don’t have a problem with the passing of the legislation. As long as we eventually get a supplemental that will fund the troops that don’t have other aspects of the Democratic proposal that I think would be detrimental to the current plan succeeding.

Anyways, I’ve been following your blog for a few weeks now, and respect you since you seem to be one of the few on either side who will either defend the other side when they should be defended, and criticize those on your side when they deserve criticism.

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