It's hard to say what's worse—that members of Congress are laboring on a passel of nonbinding resolutions opposing President Bush's "surge" strategy or that some think they're being constructive and even courageous.
Oh, the resolutions opposing Bush's new plan will do something, all right. As Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, now the U.S. commander in Iraq, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, they'll demoralize our troops and embolden our enemies by exposing divisions in the American public. That's damage enough. It also should be reason enough to skip the nonbinding resolutions and get back to declaring Na-tional Alfalfa Awareness Month.
But nonbinding resolutions on Bush's new strategy will do nothing tangible. They won't keep a single soldier from participating in what the right honorables who vote for these trifles think is a mistaken strategy. They won't cut off additional troops for the surge. They won't cap the number of the troops there. In sum, they won't do Jack Murtha.
Ah, but won't they allow lawmakers to express themselves? And shouldn't lawmakers express them-selves on the war? Indeed, they should. They should oppose or support the war. They should cheer on the surge or voice skepticism about it. Give a speech. Hold a news conference. Hit the talk shows. Write an op-ed. But if Capitol Hill solons are going to act—to vote—it shouldn't be for pretend policies. Serious lawmakers should tell Republicans and Democrats who are enam-ored of nonbinding resolutions and the rank political posturing they facilitate to get back to us when the vot-ing actually means something.
"Kids are dying over there," said Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, Democratic presidential hopeful and war foe. "We need to do something meaningful."
Exactly. Meaningful.
Dodd said this when offering amendments to cap troop levels in Iraq and force the president to seek congressional authorization for further increases. Real stuff. He was trying to amend the nonbinding resolu-tion of Delaware Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. His amendments failed, and would have been bad policy, but bravo for him. He tried to do something meaningful. He is more interested in substance than symbolism. So is Wiscon-sin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, who wants to cut off funds for the war after six months. So is Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who has introduced binding legislation to cap troop levels and pull out all troops by April 2008.
All their convictions on the war are wrongheaded, but at least they have the courage of those convictions. Their actions are consequential and worthy of the is-sues of war and peace.
By contrast, there's Hagel. Here he was last week lecturing fellow Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and getting all Henry V at Agin-court on them: "I think all 100 senators ought to be on the line on this. What do you believe? What are you willing to support? What do you think? Why were you elected? If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes. This is a tough business. But is it any tougher, us having to take a tough vote, express ourselves and have the courage to step up on what we're asking our young men and women to do?"
Er, senator, excuse me. That resolution you and Biden are proposing? Well, it's nonbinding. It will accomplish nothing concrete. It's blow-dried hot air memorialized in fancy "Whereas" phrases.
Your resolution requires no courage. You're not risking your presidential prospects, because you have no real presidential prospects. You might be a profile in courage if you were the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination rather than an also-mentioned. Even then, however, it would still be a nonbinding resolution.
Your resolution is not a tough vote at all. Tough these days is defending a president whose approval ratings are in the mid-30s. Tough is a president challenging the Beltway's new conventional wisdom and undertaking a new Iraq strategy that the public op-poses. Tougher still is what we're asking our young people to do in Iraq.
In fact, senator, isn't it shameful or delusional or both to be likening a vote on your nonbinding resolution to what our soldiers are doing in Iraq?
