FOF Proposal to Exit Iraq in the Middle of Two Extremes Offered by Congress.


Last December, Families of the Fallen for Change put forward a four-part plan that lies right in the middle of staying the course or exiting at a specific date.

The proposal has specific standards – benchmarks if you will -- that can be quantified, measured, and assessed, something other plans lack.

First, after announcing its intent to withdraw and disavowing permanent bases in Iraq, the U.S., through either the UN or the League of Arab States, would negotiate with all Iraqi parties, including insurgents, except Al Qaeda.

Second, parties would negotiate a floating timetable for withdrawal by percentages.

Negotiations would include the starting dates for the first and subsequent withdrawals as well as the percentage to be withdrawn in each stage.

Third, in exchange for this, the Iraqis would agree to an equal percentage reduction in violence that leads to injury or death of Coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.

Once the first withdrawal is begun, Iraqis have 30 days in which to reduce the violence by the agreed-upon percentage.

If they comply, the second stage of withdrawal and violence reduction would begin.

If they do not comply, the next withdrawal would not begin until they do so.

Once violence drops to 15 percent of the agreed upon starting level, all coalition troops would leave Iraq. The remaining 15% is allowed for violence sponsored by Al Qaeda.

Fourth, American financial aid would be available only if the Iraqi government demonstrates the sharing of (1) power in the government, (2) control of the Ministry of Security, and (3) proceeds of oil revenue.

The plan does two things:

First, it gives Iraq time to restore essential services and create new jobs. This gives Iraqis a stake in the future and reduces the conditions that lead the desperate to jihad.

Second, it sets in motion Coalition withdrawal from Iraq and gets us way beyond the vague “staying the course” we now have.

Many members of the House and Senate have seen the proposal. You can find it at our website at www.fofchange.org.

All members of the House Armed Services, House International Relations, and Senate Foreign Relations committees, plus leadership of both parties in both chambers, as well as those with special interest in Iraq, have seen the proposal.

Many have praised it. Congress ignored it.

Seven (7) days after Congressional decisions to stay the course this past June, 11 Iraqi insurgent groups agreed to cease all attacks immediately if the U.S. would set a two-year timetable for leaving. Not six months, not 12 months, but two years.

The Bush Administration rejected this.

Yet this offer is evidence that the opportunity remains: conditions for some kind of negotiated withdrawal are there.

Leadership. Leadership is required to set it in motion. -- Paul E. Schroeder

US Ambassador says Funding Could Be Cut for Iraq's Police
By VOA News 30 September 2006

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, says the United States may cut funding for Iraq's police because of their failure to punish those responsible for torture.

Khalilzad said in an interview with The New York Times that U.S. officials are reviewing some programs because of a U.S. law that bans funding security forces that violate human rights.

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Two comments on this.

First, isn't it US policy to stand down when Iraqis stand up? Clearly they aren't.

Second, if the Administration engages in torture under the law passed by Congress Friday, could this be the basis of a lawsuit to block funding for our presence in Iraq?

In other words, the U. S. government appears to be engaged in double standards. -- Paul E. Schroeder

A Life, Wasted (Revisited)

The Washington Post ran the following article of mine last January 3. It received wide attention from other newspapers, blogs, and commentators at the time.

I'm rerunning it now because nothing that has happened since January has changed my mind about what I had to say. Indeed, everything that has happened since January makes the sentiments expressed here all the more important. As best as we can count, our son was the 1,824th American military death in Iraq. Today that toll is 2,712. Since the United States started this war, the American death toll has gone up an average of 2.28 Marines or soldiers per day. With next to nothing to show for it on the ground, these deaths are all wasted. This is unconscionable: ending the war should be Job One.

There will be a judgement on this one day. -- Paul E. Schroeder

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A Life, Wasted

Let's Stop This War Before More Heroes Are Killed

By Paul E. Schroeder Tuesday, January 3, 2006; A17

Early on Aug. 3, 2005, we heard that 14 Marines had been killed in Haditha, Iraq. Our son, Lance Cpl. Edward "Augie" Schroeder II, was stationed there. At 10:45 a.m. two Marines showed up at our door. After collecting himself for what was clearly painful duty, the lieutenant colonel said, "Your son is a true American hero."

Since then, two reactions to Augie's death have compounded the sadness.

At times like this, people say, "He died a hero." I know this is meant with great sincerity. We appreciate the many condolences we have received and how helpful they have been. But when heard repeatedly, the phrases "he died a hero" or "he died a patriot" or "he died for his country" rub raw.

"People think that if they say that, somehow it makes it okay that he died," our daughter, Amanda, has said. "He was a hero before he died, not just because he went to Iraq. I was proud of him before, and being a patriot doesn't make his death okay. I'm glad he got so much respect at his funeral, but that didn't make it okay either."

The words "hero" and "patriot" focus on the death, not the life. They are a flag-draped mask covering the truth that few want to acknowledge openly: Death in battle is tragic no matter what the reasons for the war. The tragedy is the life that was lost, not the manner of death. Families of dead soldiers on both sides of the battle line know this. Those without family in the war don't appreciate the difference.

This leads to the second reaction. Since August we have witnessed growing opposition to the Iraq war, but it is often whispered, hands covering mouths, as if it is dangerous to speak too loudly. Others discuss the never-ending cycle of death in places such as Haditha in academic and sometimes clinical fashion, as in "the increasing lethality of improvised explosive devices."

Listen to the kinds of things that most Americans don't have to experience: The day Augie's unit returned from Iraq to Camp Lejeune, we received a box with his notebooks, DVDs and clothes from his locker in Iraq.

The day his unit returned home to waiting families, we received the second urn of ashes. This lad of promise, of easy charm and readiness to help, whose highest high was saving someone using CPR as a first aid squad volunteer, came home in one coffin and two urns. We buried him in three places that he loved, a fitting irony, I suppose, but just as rough each time.

I am outraged at what I see as the cause of his death. For nearly three years, the Bush administration has pursued a policy that makes our troops sitting ducks. While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that our policy is to "clear, hold and build" Iraqi towns, there aren't enough troops to do that.

In our last conversation, Augie complained that the cost in lives to clear insurgents was "less and less worth it," because Marines have to keep coming back to clear the same places. Marine commanders in the field say the same thing. Without sufficient troops, they can't hold the towns. Augie was killed on his fifth mission to clear Haditha.

At Augie's grave, the lieutenant colonel knelt in front of my wife and, with tears in his eyes, handed her the folded flag. He said the only thing he could say openly: "Your son was a true American hero." Perhaps. But I felt no glory, no honor.

Doing your duty when you don't know whether you will see the end of the day is certainly heroic. But even more, being a hero comes from respecting your parents and all others, from helping your neighbors and strangers, from loving your spouse, your children, your neighbors and your enemies, from honesty and integrity, from knowing when to fight and when to walk away, and from understanding and respecting the differences among the people of the world.

Two painful questions remain for all of us. Are the lives of Americans being killed in Iraq wasted? Are they dying in vain? President Bush says those who criticize staying the course are not honoring the dead. That is twisted logic: honor the fallen by killing another 2,000 troops in a broken policy?

I choose to honor our fallen hero by remembering who he was in life, not how he died. A picture of a smiling Augie in Iraq, sunglasses turned upside down, shows his essence -- a joyous kid who could use any prop to make others feel the same way.

Though it hurts, I believe that his death -- and that of the other Americans who have died in Iraq -- was a waste.

They were wasted in a belief that democracy would grow simply by removing a dictator -- a careless misunderstanding of what democracy requires. They were wasted by not sending enough troops to do the job needed in the resulting occupation -- a careless disregard for professional military counsel.

But their deaths will not be in vain if Americans stop hiding behind flag-draped hero masks and stop whispering their opposition to this war. Until then, the lives of other sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers may be wasted as well.

This is very painful to acknowledge, and I have to live with it. So does President Bush.

The writer is managing director of a trade development firm in Cleveland.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

Say What? Debuts

We are pleased to introduce Say What?, the new commentary section for Families of the Fallen for Change, a non-profit organization devoted to finding a responsible end to the Iraq War. FOF was founded by Rosemary Palmer and Paul Schroeder following the death of their son, Marine Lance Corporal Edward “Augie” Schroeder August 3, 2005. At this writing the organization has more than 1,300 members nationwide.

Membership in Families of the Fallen for Change is free, carries no obligation, and is kept confidential. Membership is in four categories: general supporters, military families, friends of the fallen, and families of fallen Marines and soldiers.

Say What? is a serious effort at discussion and debate because ending this war is a serious matter. Since the United States started the war on March 19, 2003, a daily average of 2.28 American Marines and soldiers have died. As of September 7, 2006, 19,910 American Marines and soldiers have been wounded, according to the Defense Department.

Say What? is devoted to commentary and discussion on several issues pertaining to the Iraq War, including Bush Administration policies, Congress, the war on the ground, and the 2006 election, which will morf into the 2008 election after November 7. Other issues may be disucssed as events warrant.

We welcome comments from readers, reserving the right to edit for length or to delete if comments are inappropriate for a serious discussion.

Paul E. Schroeder