How to end the war, hang McCain on his petard and win the election

So George wants another 109 billion dollars so he can play soldiers and pretend he is a Commander in Chief, well fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

If only we lived in a magical world, where George could have a giant sand pit like the one CNN used during the First Gulf War and move his tanks about level buildings with weapons that are smarter than he is and decapitate untold numbers of Iraqis with a wave of his hand. Of course he would need to make room for little Joey who needs to get his scouting badge for slaughter and that scary old man who lives down the street and was a POW while the rest of us were coming down with the Vietnam syndrome. Which, in case we have forgotten is a delusional state that grips a population when it is forced to view the wholesale slaughter of a third world population and it distracts them from buying war toys. Of course being little boys without balls and a backbone they need General Patreaus around to stop the neighbors from kicking sand in his face.

Unfortunately, we live in the real world and Georgie needs 109 billion dollars to continue with his slaughter and because he is serious he sent Jim Nussle, who became a leader in Congress by wearing a bag on his head, to tell Congres the President will veto any bill which includes a penny more than the president asks for.

It is time to say fuck him and call his bluff. First thing they should do is pass the 109 billion dollar bill that is divided between providing the military enough money to protect their assets in Iraq. No money for fuel, except for what is needed for resupply. No money for munitions and materiel except for what is needed to hunt Al quaeda.

It should specifically contain provisions for search and avoid missions. As has been the case throughout history, if soldiers refuse to go out and kill their adversaries, the adversaries will leave them alone.   This would of course include a clause that if a base is attacked and the US military can definitely identify who did it, the full force and weight of American military power, both air and ground forces, would be bought to bear upon the perpetrators.

To ensure the US is not practicing collective punishment, or participating in sectarian retribution, it should prohibit the use of any American personnel,  including advisers and equipment by the Malaki Government against any group that is not directly affiliated with Al Quaeda. Most importantly, this means the Mahdi Army who if they were not under constant attack from factions favored by us would have no need to rocket the Green Zone or respond with deadly force against US military installations and diplomatic personnel.

While I am not sure how much it costs to maintain a static military force of 150,000 I am willing to be generous and give the Pentagon $10 billion to maintain their forces in Iraq. However it should include figures for monies saved on wear and tear, so the Pentagon could allocate most of it to replace equipment and as this has mostly been paid for, the bill should include a clause demanding the Pentagon accurately account for every penny spent and any monies syphoned off to contractors for materials not approved by Congress should be replaced from the 500 billion the Pentagon already gets to give George newer and bigger weapons of war.

The remaining 99 billion, of the 109 billion the President has asked for, should first and foremost be allocated for the treatment of the 20% Iraq and Afghani war veterans who have PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries. Whatever funds remain should be allocated to repairing whatever damages remain from Katrina.

Other provisions of the bill should include the revocation of the 2002 resolution legitimating Bush's use of whatever force he deemed necessary to protect the homeland. It should deny the use of any Pentagon resources for the planning and execution of a long term presence in Iraq, commit the US government to respecting the wishes of the Iraqi Parliament regarding the presence of US troops in Iraq, the role of contractors and the application of the Iraqi legal code to American citizens, be they active duty or contractor to Iraqi law.

astly it should outlaw the use of any resources by any federal agency for planning military action in Iran. This would of course include the prohibition of any incursion into Iran by any US military personnel. Any officer of the Federal Government, including the Presidents cabinet who violated this prohibition, as Nixon had done in 1970 with the invasion of Cambodia, would be subject to potential war crimes charges.

It should also contain language that bind all agencies, both  military and civilian,  of the Federal Government to have to strictly adhere to the original intent of the Constitution. Most importantly are the provisions concerning international treaties and the outlawing of any domestic search without a warrant. To enforce this, the bill should include the strictest penalties for persons approving the use of torture or wire-tapping and the removal of all monies from any agency which breaks the law.

The bill should also demand the military be constrained by contract law.  It should immediately prohibit the use of stop-loss as well as the wasteful use cooks and other specialist from performing any tasks they were not originally trained for.

For this to work, the Congress and the Senate should recognize that much of the violence being directed at US military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan has to do with the detaining of tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghani civilians in jails run by the US military. These should immediately be turned over to the United nations and staffed by personnel from countries with a long tradition of respecting human rights.

I realize this is a pipe dream, but such a bill would force republicans to choose between the needs of the occupation and the needs veterans of the occupation. It would also force John McCain to have to go on the record not only opposing torture, but doing so with bill that has legal sanctions attached to it. Finally it would clearly redefine the debate over supporting the troops from a discussion of empty gestures to one which ensures that supporting the troops means keeping them out of unnecessary conflicts

In closing, if this were to occur and the levels of violence in Iraq diminished as I suspect they would the last refuge of the administrations rationale for staying in Iraq would collapse. On their way out, I suspect the US would finally be treated the way the administration had predicted before the war. They would be feted with flowers and then told to fuck off.