Shays keeps us wondering on Iraq

5/01/07
Rep. Christopher Shays just can’t understand it. Critics say he’s all over the place on Iraq, on time lines, deadlines and blank checks. Did his position change in time for last fall’s election? He says no, but can he be surprised when people don’t see it that way?
Shays was one of the earliest supporters of invading Iraq, but he raised eyebrows when he called last year for a timetable for Iraqi troops to take over from American forces. This seemed, at least, like a reversal — he says it wasn’t. But the fact that the statement came weeks before one of the closest congressional races in the country raised concerns.
The election is over, and the next one is already getting started. Shays still supports a time line, just not the one proposed by Democrats. He also supports the "surge" of troops into Baghdad, to try, four years into the occupation, to pacify the capital. Is it any wonder people are confused?
His own plan for Iraq exists in some nonexistent middle zone. He said in supporting the ongoing escalation that "this strategy will only work if Iraqi troops do their part; Sunni and Shia politicians resolve their differences … and the U.S. and Iraq engage in a diplomatic surge with all of Iraq’s neighbors, including Syria and Iran."
But, as usual, there is no indication Sunni and Shia politicians are doing that. There is no sign that we’re reaching out to Iran and Syria. It does no good to say "things need to happen" when everyone can see that they aren’t. Shays threw his support behind the policy anyway.
He seems genuinely perplexed, and angry, at the idea that he’s playing politics with the war. The reality is this: President Bush sets the agenda, and he shows absolutely no sign of leaving Iraq. Democrats are trying to prod him in the other direction, but there has been no movement. And by voting with the president’s wishes against a bill to require a timetable to bring the troops home, Shays is endorsing the president’s stay-forever plan. He has his own proposal, but it will go nowhere. The choice before him is stay, with "progress" continuing as it has for the past four years, or start to leave.
No matter how he parses it, there are no other available options. Congressman Shays has long been known as a man of principle, but he needs to know that by voting with the president, he is endorsing a stay-the-course strategy. Everything else is just details.