So this came out today. Let’s take a look…<\/p>\n
REAL SECURITY
\nThe Democratic Plan to Protect America and Restore Our Leadership in the World<\/a><\/p>\n\n March 29, 2006<\/p>\n
\n109th Congress, Second Session<\/p>\n
\n Americans want and deserve change. Democrats\u2019 plan for Real Security will protect Americans and restore our country\u2019s position of international leadership.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OK, so far so good. I want to be protected, and want our country to lead.<\/p>\n
The first responsibility of our government is the security of every American. In this era of unprecedented and unpredictable challenge, we must be prepared for any threat.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hyperbole, but OK hyperbole.<\/p>\n
The men and women of America\u2019s armed forces and those on the front lines here at home have met every challenge with skill, bravery, and selfless dedication. They, along with veterans, military retirees and the families of those who have given their lives or have been wounded in defense of our country, deserve the gratitude and support of the American people. We will always honor their service and fulfill our promises to them.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Rhetoric, but OK with me.<\/p>\n
We believe America is best protected, and freedom best advanced, by national security policies — including homeland, energy, and diplomatic strategies — that are both tough and smart.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ditto.<\/p>\n
Democrats offer a plan for Real Security to rebuild our military; equip and train our first responders and others on the front lines here at home; provide needed benefits to our troops and veterans; fully man and equip our National Guard; promote alternative fuels and reduce dependence on foreign oil; and restore Americans\u2019 confidence in their government\u2019s ability to respond in the face of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OK, that\u2019s half the problem. What will we do about the elephant in the room?<\/p>\n
To protect the American people, we will immediately implement the recommendations of the independent bipartisan 9\/11 Commission and finally protect our ports and airports, our borders, mass transit systems, our chemical and nuclear power plants, and our food and water supplies from terrorist attack. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
All things I\u2019m generally supportive of \u2013 with a caveat. The caveat is simple; we can protect ourselves by giving up all our freedoms (I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what\u2019s being proposed) and we can defend ourselves by eliminating our enemies (which may mean killing or capturing them, or making them not our enemies any more). In general, I like the idea of some of A and more of B. That\u2019s because in reality, without a \u2018V for Vendetta\u2019 type police state, we can\u2019t secure ourselves, we\u2019re too big, too interconnected, and too open. So I\u2019m very wary of \u2018making ourselves safe at home\u2019 as a core \u2013 as opposed to important ancillary strategy. But I do think that we need to do more to secure ports, railroads, key facilities, and the population at large. In part, I think we do it by educating and empowering citizens; in part we do it through government programs.<\/p>\n
After September 11, all Americans trusted President Bush to take the steps necessary to keep our country safe. Since then, inadequate planning and incompetent policies have failed to make Americans as safe as we should be. The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina showed that the federal government was still not prepared to respond. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019m wary of the Katrina response as a \u2018canary\u2019 issue; first things were not as bad as they were made out to be; many of the immediate problems were local; the size of the disaster has to be seen on a map to really be appreciated; and there\u2019s something about the idea of omnipotent Feds that creeps me out a bit. I\u2019d like my local governments to be somewhat competent, please.<\/p>\n
Under President Bush and the Republican majority in Congress, the war in Iraq began with manipulated intelligence and no plan for success; our ports and other critical infrastructure remain vulnerable, while both soldiers in the field and first responders at home lack the basic equipment and resources they were promised. Both in the Persian Gulf and our own Gulf Coast, lucrative no-bid contracts have gone to companies such as Halliburton, Kellogg, Brown and Root, and others with friends in high places and records of cheating taxpayers. And despite record high fuel prices, our country remains heavily dependent on foreign oil because of an energy policy that benefits the big oil interests. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ll go for \u2018good job\u2019 on the energy policy; suggest that every war and large public works project is skewed toward insider contractors (Los Angeles Red Line, anyone?); I do think that too little has been done to secure infrastructure (note my comment above about the role of citizens in doing that); I do fully acknowledge that postwar planning \u2013 and more, management of the critical reconstruction aid \u2013 was badly shortchanged; \u2018manipulated intelligence\u2019 is pretty much a partisan trope.<\/p>\n
Americans want and deserve change. Democrats\u2019 plan for Real Security will protect Americans and restore our country\u2019s position of international leadership.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OK, puffery is approvable in political speech<\/p>\n
21st Century Military
\nTo Ensure Unparalleled Military Strength and Honor our Troops, we will:<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\nBoy, \u2018Strength and Honor\u2019 \u2013 I know it\u2019s an accidental juxtaposition, but didn\u2019t anyone with an ear proofread this?<\/p>\n
Rebuild a state-of-the-art military by making the needed investments in equipment and manpower so that we can project power to protect America wherever and whenever necessary. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The entire game here is \u201cwhat equipment, specifically?\u201d and \u201cwhat manpower, specifically?\u201d Depending on the answer to that this could be absolutely great or it could be a boondoggle (Crusader anyone?).<\/p>\n
Guarantee that our troops have the protective gear, equipment, and training they need and are never sent to war without accurate intelligence and a strategy for success. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, they won\u2019t be going to war much then, will they? That\u2019s just silly. Intelligence is almost never accurate (except in movies) and the strategy for success (except the broadest ones) that is approved on Day 1 of the war is usually invalid by Day 7. <\/p>\n
Enact a GI Bill of Rights for the 21st Century that guarantees our troops — active, reserve, and retired — our veterans, and their families receive the pay, health care, mental health services, and other benefits they have earned and deserve. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I like that; I think that the GI bill was one of the major levers into middle-class life for the postwar dogfaces, and I think that an intelligently designed set of programs could well be the rope that keeps the modern grunts in the middle class as well.<\/p>\n
Strengthen the National Guard, in partnership with the nation\u2019s Governors, to ensure it is fully manned, equipped and available to meet missions at home and abroad. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OK, how would you do things differently than they are being done now? Equipment is sketchy because it\u2019s being used; the only way to have 100% readiness ratings is never to go do anything at all. Enlistment is down, but in the face of the media CW and lack of sales by the Administration, I can see why.<\/p>\n
War on Terror <\/p>\n
\nTo Defeat Terrorists and Stop the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction, we will:<\/p>\n
\nEliminate Osama Bin Laden, destroy terrorist networks like al Qaeda, finish the job in Afghanistan, and end the threat posed by the Taliban. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yeah? You and whose army? I\u2019ve said in the past that I thought our strategy in Afghanistan was genius, because it avoided the cultural and military pitfalls that the Russians found there. I think that the suggestions that things would be better in Afghanistan if we only had 150,000 troops on the ground there are purely and simply delusional, and people who suggest things like that are demonstrating that they know nothing of Afghanistan or military history.<\/p>\n
Double the size of our Special Forces, increase our human intelligence capabilities, and ensure our intelligence is free from political pressure. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Where will the new operators come from? Would we lower standards, raise pay? I know a little bit about this, and can tell you that this is going to be damn difficult if not impossible. I\u2019d like to see some specifics, please.<\/p>\n
And I\u2019m working on a piece on humint, based in large part on the article in The Atlantic this month<\/a> about the spies that the UK managed to place in the IRA \u2013 and what they had to do to stay there. From the Atlantic:<\/p>\n
I put it to Martin Ingram, the former spy handler, that in the case of Scappaticci, the British strategy had gone amok. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it went very much to schedule.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\u201cSo you think\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think, I know. He was acting to orders.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nSo the British government knew of Scappaticci\u2019s killings? <\/p>\n
\n\u201cOh, yeah,\u201d he said. \u201cThe one preconception the IRA had is that if you are dirty\u2014that is, if you have killed\u2014then you cannot be an agent.\u201d Scappaticci exploited that misapprehension. \u201cHis best protection,\u201d Ingram continued, \u201cwas to keep killing.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nIf that\u2019s true, the British spy services beat the IRA by appealing to a belief that the United Kingdom wouldn\u2019t sacrifice its own subjects\u2014especially its own agents. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When Nancy Pelosi signs on for this kind of humint, please let me know.<\/p>\n
Eliminate terrorist breeding grounds by combating the economic, social, and political conditions that allow extremism to thrive; lead international efforts to uphold and defend human rights; and renew longstanding alliances that have advanced our national security objectives. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So we\u2019ll be promoting freedom as a way of eliminating the \u201cpolitical conditions<\/i>\u201d that lead to terrorism.<\/p>\n
Secure by 2010 loose nuclear materials that terrorists could use to build nuclear weapons or \u201cdirty bombs.\u201d <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That\u2019s a good plan\u2026I\u2019ll support that one.<\/p>\n
Redouble efforts to stop nuclear weapons development in Iran and North Korea.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What, specifically would they do differently?<\/p>\n
Homeland Security
\nTo Protect America from Terrorism and Natural Disasters, we will:<\/p>\n\nImmediately implement the recommendations of the independent, bipartisan 9\/11 Commission including securing national borders, ports, airports and mass transit systems. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
See my comments on internal v. external security above.<\/p>\n
Screen 100% of containers and cargo bound for the U.S. in ships or airplanes at the point of origin and safeguard America\u2019s nuclear and chemical plants, and food and water supplies. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Nice goal, not happening anytime soon. Note that Jane Harman \u2013 arguably the smartest Dem on security (and coincidentally, my Congresswoman) doesn\u2019t think so either.<\/p>\n
Prevent outsourcing of critical components of our national security infrastructure — such as ports, airports and mass transit — to foreign interests that put America at risk. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That\u2019s just silly. The issue isn\u2019t who owns the facility \u2013 the issue is who manages security there and what programs\/policies they follow. <\/p>\n
Provide firefighters, emergency medical workers, police officers, and other workers on the front lines with the training, staffing, equipment, and cuttingedge technology they need. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, there\u2019s a lot of cutting edge technology out there; how about some basic interoperable communications infrastructure? I\u2019d rather have good, simple, common tools than the latest wizbang items.<\/p>\n
Protect America from biological terrorism and pandemics, including the Avian flu, by investing in the public health infrastructure and training public health workers.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bingo. Applause. Attaboy.<\/p>\n
Iraq<\/p>\n
\nTo Honor the Sacrifice of Our Troops, we will:<\/p>\n
\nEnsure 2006 is a year of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with the Iraqis assuming primary responsibility for securing and governing their country and with the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
How in the world do you \u2018ensure<\/b>\u2019 that \u2018 the Iraqis assuming primary responsibility for securing and governing their country<\/i>\u2019?? That\u2019s wishful thinking of the \u2018declare victory and leave\u2019 style.<\/p>\n
Insist that Iraqis make the political compromises necessary to unite their country and defeat the insurgency; promote regional diplomacy; and strongly encourage our allies and other nations to play a constructive role. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Again, what would be different than what we\u2019re doing today?<\/p>\n
Hold the Bush Administration accountable for its manipulated pre-war intelligence, poor planning and contracting abuses that have placed our troops at greater risk and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That\u2019s a winning wartime strategy \u2013 let\u2019s battle among ourselves.<\/p>\n
Energy Independence<\/p>\n
\nTo Free America from Dependence on Foreign Oil, we will:<\/p>\n
\nAchieve energy independence for America by 2020 by eliminating reliance on oil from the Middle East and other unstable regions of the world. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Energy independence is a laudable goal, but there are a couple problems. But I\u2019m still a supporter<\/a> of greater energy efficiency<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Increase production of alternate fuels from America\u2019s heartland including bio-fuels, geothermal, clean coal, fuel cells, solar and wind; promote hybrid and flex fuel vehicle technology and manufacturing; enhance energy efficiency and conservation incentives.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Golf clap.<\/p>\n
So, overall, a few things that I\u2019m very excited about (resources to first responders and public health, energy efficiency). But I\u2019m not seeing anything (doable) that\u2019s bold or different \u2013 or even particularly interesting \u2013 about the approach to the Middle East, and I’m seeing some particularly unrealistic things.<\/p>\n
I’ll try and go deeper into some of the interesting questions in the next week or so – but I’ll bet others beat me to it.<\/p>\n
But overall, let’s see another draft, guys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Democrats in Congress announce a defense platform for ’06. Armed Liberal looks under the hood just a little bit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}