Time to reappraise U.S. policies

Now that President Bush has revealed his new strategy for the way forward in Iraq, Democrats and more than a few Republicans are raising concerns about whether his so-called ?surge? of American ground combat forces in and around Baghdad is really a step forward, or one step forward, and two steps back.

As a former military strategist myself, I share their concerns. What President Bush calls a surge really amounts to an escalation of American military presence in Iraq.? Previous surges, including the one a few months back, when some 5,000 American combat forces were sent into Baghdad, have been less than successful.? The Baghdad surge was supposed to be accompanied by at least six Iraqi combat battalions.?Only two showed up.?Further commitment of American combat power in Baghdad has resulted in a dramatic increase in U.S. casualties.

Originally, the Bush military strategy, as I understand it, was for Iraqi combat forces to ?stand up? and for American combat forces to ?stand down.??So far, that strategy has fallen far short of any reasonable expectations of success.

The question now is: What are the Iraqi leaders, civilian and military, ready, willing, and able to do to rescue their country from what has descended into a low-grade civil war??The answer to that pivotal question will determine whether this way forward is any better than what has gone before.

If Iraqi leaders have the power and the will to transform Iraq from the current cauldron of carnage and chaos into some degree of security and stability that enables the country to move forward in its own way to real nationhood, success is possible.

If, on the other hand, they continue to flounder and falter in internecine civil war, then no amount of American combat power will be sufficient to save them from themselves.

However this latest attempt to save Iraq from its many selves turns out, it is high time for an agonizing reappraisal of our foreign and defense policies. The goal of freeing other nations from the bonds of tyranny is a noble goal. However, relying on our military means to try to achieve that noble goal can have ignoble results. ??

True, the USA is the pre-eminent world superpower, but our elements of national power far transcend just the military component.?

They stem from our Judeo-Christian culture and our history of representative democracy, imperfect though both are.? They also stem from our vibrant and resilient economy, our businesses and industries, our trades and professions, our system of mass education.?

Most of all, our elements of national power stem from the strength of the American people. Our brave men and women in uniform are military exemplars of that strength.?They should be sent to war only as a last resort, when all other means of national power have been exhausted, or when the threat to our national security is so immediate that other means are inadequate to meet that threat.? Presidents, present and future, and Congresses, too, would do well to remember that.? ?

Thomas B. Vaughn is an instructor at Motlow College and co-host of the radio show ?Viewpoints,? which airs on WCPI 91.3 FM.