SEN. HAGEL ON IRAQ

This is an op-ed printed in a Nebraska paper.

Hagel Says America Has Not Given Its Troops A Policy Worthy Of Their Sacrifices
By U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel
April 24, 2007
(excerpts)

Key Shiite leaders told me that they remain deeply skeptical of Sunni intentions. ... Almost no one in Baghdad was talking about using new provincial elections this year to help bring the Sunnis into the national government.

We must start by understanding what's really happening in Iraq. ... Yes, there are admirers of Osama bin Laden in the country, including a full-blown al-Qaeda branch. But terrorists are not the core problem; Sunni-Shiite violence is.

So how can America influence the Iraqis to reconcile their differences -- at least enough to form some kind of responsible government?

First, we must recognize that we have few good options in Iraq and that we are dealing with dynamics that lie mostly beyond our control.

Second, we must do all we can to encourage a comprehensive regional security framework, which includes engaging Syria and Iran.

Third, and closer to home, the administration and Congress must untangle themselves from the debate over funding our continued involvement in Iraq. The Iraqis must be jolted into understanding that America's continued commitment of troops and money is not open-ended. Significantly, American leaders in Iraq told me that they believed the debate on this issue in Congress had actually helped them get Iraqi leaders to grasp this point.

The longer we are bogged down in Iraq, the more difficult and painful it will be to get out.

Forging a bipartisan consensus now that places responsible conditions on U.S. war funding could forestall a time when we have no options. The Baker-Hamilton report could have been the base for that bipartisan consensus.