Dorchester Debate #3:Troop Surge

If you are not at Dorchester you are missing all the fun. If you can’t be there you still can offer your commenst on the hot topics they will be debating. Below are the pro-con of their four debate topics, please feel free to drop us your comment.

ISSUE 3: TROOP SURGE
Resolved: The Dorchester Conference endorses the President’s plan to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq.
Argument in Favor

President Bush has pledged that “our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs.” Indeed, putting additional troops on the ground in Iraq will help quell the violence and boost efforts to train Iraqi security forces.

Failure would be catastrophic and spread instability throughout the Middle East. The war is still winnable and to prevail, the surge must be substantial and it must be sustained.

The President has requested $245 billion to cover the mission this year and next. It is the President’s power to deploy and it is the responsibility of Congress to fund the increased effort.

The road ahead will be difficult but success is still possible in Iraq. It requires sustained political support and the concentrated efforts on all sides.

If the United States hopes to win the broader war on terrorism, it must finish the job.

Argument in Opposition

When is enough enough? A troop surge would be more of the same of Bush’s failed policy in Iraq.

The American people demonstrated in the November elections that they do not believe the current Iraq policy will lead to success and we need a change in direction for the sake of our troops and the Iraqi people.

If there is any surge that is needed in Iraq, it’s a surge in diplomacy. Instead of a military solution, we must advance a political solution. The administration should begin the phased redeployment of our forces while shifting the principal mission of our forces from combat to training, logistics, force protection and counter-terror.

The American people agree. Nearly half of the country says we need to make major changes for handling Iraq, with a good percentage calling for a complete overhaul.

Many Republican and Republican-leaning members of Congress agree: escalation should be off the table.