Sail On

The President has spent a lot of time and energy this week urging all of us to "stay the course." He invokes the memory of Ronald Reagan when he brings up that 1984 campaign slogan.

But Mr Reagan had a course in mind. He saw the place he'd bring the ship of state to shore. With the Iraq War, the President has never let us know where we're going.

I like sailing. I love harnessing the wind to take me where I want to go -- regardless of the direction the wind blows. I know how to tack to get to where I want to go. I understand laying out a plan before hand to get where I'm going.

So, as a sailor (small “s”) I’d have to say, “What is the course?”

When you set out on the water, you have an idea where you’re going—unless it’s a party cruise. That's just a float -- with lots of stuff to numb your brain. With Iraq, our brains are numb, but it's no party cruise.

The Horizon We Never Reach

For three years, we’ve had no clear goals in Iraq.

There were no WMDs, so we changed course.

Freedom and democracy are great—but they’re pretty vague. We’ve had three elections in Iraq. If that’s “freedom and democracy” then why are we still there? After three elections, we changed course.

Standing up the Iraqi military is great. There are now more Iraqi security members than there ever were US troops. So why isn’t it mission accomplished”...again?

We changed the course again.

Now Captain W has us sailing around in circles telling us to “stay the course.”

Great.

Just let me know what it takes to bring this boat to shore. I’m sure me, you, the American people, and certainly the troops would be willing to do it for a little shore leave!