Being the staunch liberal--some would say radical--Democrat that I am, I am going to let the Center for American Progress be my missive to the New Year to dawn in less than four hours here in the Middle Kingdom ( If you haven't already blogrolled America's newest and perhaps best liberal think-tank, then this is my Holiday gift to you!):
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: The WMD-inspecting Iraq Survey Group – minus David Kay – is set to release its final report on the search for WMD this coming February. Although the Bush Administration used the imminent threat of WMD as the premise for going to war in Iraq, the previous interim report released by the ISG last September "found no evidence that Iraq had taken significant steps to build nuclear weapons or produce fissile material after 1991. No evidence that aluminum tubes had been used to enrich uranium. No proof that two trucks carrying laboratory equipment had been designed to produce biowarfare agents, as the president had claimed. No smallpox, anthrax, or VX. No chemical or biological weapons ready to fire in 45 minutes--indeed, no poison gases or germ weapons at all." Progressives need to hold the Administration accountable for the intelligence failures leading up to its WMD claims – and refuse to allow conservatives to say there is “no difference” whether WMD are found in Iraq after all. An aggressive examination of the report and its findings is necessary to redirect resources toward existing threats in the future. Progressives must champion a powerful national security strategy that will best protect Americans and stop the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, while demonstrating the concrete harm to the American people caused by pre-emption and unilateral action.
IRAQ: The Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq (CPA) agreed to hand over power to a transitional government in Iraq no later than July 2004. Before that happens, Progressives need to define a strong and sustainable course for U.S. actions in Iraq that utilizes international experience in nation building and charts a realistic course for advancing democratic values and institutions in the region. At the same time, Progressives need to participate actively in the debate over transforming the military to help adapt its roles, size and scope on the battlefield and in post-conflict situations.
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: This past year saw the advent of the preemptive war, but the Administration is dangerously ignoring pre-emptive peace. In a report titled "Changing Minds, Winning Peace," a State Department advisory group found "the United States today lacks the capabilities in public diplomacy to meet the national security threat emanating from political instability, economic deprivation and extremism, especially in the Arab and Muslim world" in large part because "public diplomacy is absurdly and dangerously underfunded." The NYT reports, "The government's public-relations drive to build a favorable impression abroad — particularly among Muslim nations — is a shambles, according to Republican and Democratic lawmakers, State Department officials and independent experts. They say the effort, known as public diplomacy, lacks direction and is starved of cash and personnel." Despite this, conservatives still give public diplomacy short shrift, just this year attempting to cancel programs such as Radio-Free Europe, "one of the cheapest, most effective and most popular tools of U.S. public diplomacy." Progressives must press for a renewed commitment to public diplomacy throughout the world to help stem a rising tide of anti-Americanism.
ACCOUNTABILITY: A number of troubling controversies continue to go unanswered and progressives must not let the collective memory dim. Halliburton must be held accountable for overcharging the government by as much as $61 million. The Justice Department must aggressively continue its investigation into who in the White House breached national security and leaked the name of a CIA operative. And the Administration must answer questions about why it allowed a drug company CEO and longtime business associate of the President to "craft" key portions of the Medicare bill.
The above is just the start of a great roundup of the important issues before us. Me? Right now I'm going out to have some fun in Beijing!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
(Note: There are many neat things about living in China, just one of them is getting to have 3 Happy New Years. One, in just about 3 hours. Two, 13 hours after the first one (I'm speaking about the one in Times Square, New York). Then the Chinese Lunar New Year and Spring Festival almost a month later!!!
