tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36605616.post8621537465530838602..comments2023-09-28T05:52:52.110-04:00Comments on The Ground Truth in Iraq: Six Months Later, Congress Warms to Iraq Study Group RecommendationsErik K. Gustafsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01870861092770458296noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36605616.post-52551459937287477302007-06-12T09:45:00.000-04:002007-06-12T09:45:00.000-04:00Anonymous 2 - Again, I would like to apologize to ...Anonymous 2 - Again, I would like to apologize to you as well for not getting back to you yesterday. To be honest, I don't quite understand your question, so let me set up two scenarios that I think might help. If not, please respond back and I will try to be more direct. Scenario #1: If you mean "allies" as in allies of EPIC, then you can expect widespread support. Easy. Scenario #2: If by "allies" you mean our allies in the world and our allies in Iraq, then that constitutes a more complex answer. The short of it, I think at the very least it would make a small difference. In a way it would be admitting that our current policy is not working very well (to say the least) and for some countries, I think that would be a good start. With the figurehead of the US still being President Bush, I think support from our allies will remain negligible though, and it certainly wouldn't win over anyone new. I say this because the past 4 years of the war are ingrained in the world's head. If we were to change policy and try to move forward in a different direction, I'm not sure our allies would see it as a true step ahead. I'm not sure anyone would until Bush is gone. So while it would be a great move to make, I wouldn't count on the rest of the world seeing it as such. I feel everyone is a little jaded and cynical in regards to the US right now. Unfortunately, with any new policy, the diplomatic effort will have to extend far beyond the parameters of Iraq for it to be successful. Fortunately, that is surely within our reach.Geoff Schaeferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05061582791900736630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36605616.post-2032427375648589562007-06-12T09:34:00.000-04:002007-06-12T09:34:00.000-04:00Anonymous 1 - First, let me apologize for not gett...Anonymous 1 - First, let me apologize for not getting back to you earlier. I was out of the office all day yesterday after the blog went up so I didn't have a chance to respond. Let me say this though, and please take it with a grain of salt because it is strictly my opinion. If you look at how the media interacts with the congress in setting the agenda/importance of legislation to be debated and voted on, then it doesn't look like the bill has that much life in it. As I stated in my piece, there has been virtually no attention for this legislation at all. While there is a decent amount of support in congress for the bill (mostly in the House), without public awareness and a frequenting of the legislation in our discourse, the congress won't feel any pressure to even deliver the bill to the floor for debate. Look at the most important legislation right now: immigration reform and troop withdraw. Even with the tremendous pressure from the public realm, those bills aren't going anywhere. Secondly, I feel that the President would take this as another personal attack on his handling and conduct of the war. As we all know, he doesn't like to be told he is not doing the right thing. So, while it might not get vetoed, it probably won't get that far anyway. However, you can visit the FCNL link at the bottom of the blog and check out the link on their site that lets you send a request directly to your Senator for him or her to support this legislation. I would encourage all of you to do that. That's the best way to put pressure on the congress to act. We often don't get a great chance like this to directly influence our representatives' thinking and agenda, but this is that chance.Geoff Schaeferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05061582791900736630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36605616.post-75924062781129644202007-06-11T10:41:00.000-04:002007-06-11T10:41:00.000-04:00What kind of support could we expect to get from o...What kind of support could we expect to get from other allies if this bill were implemented?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36605616.post-85968705817827880062007-06-11T10:40:00.000-04:002007-06-11T10:40:00.000-04:00WHat is the liklliehood the bill actually passes c...WHat is the liklliehood the bill actually passes congress and presidential veto?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com