Last evening (9/27), One-time Indiana Congressman, Lee Hamilton, spoke to a packed house at Earlham College. For 34 years, Hamilton served as Congressman from Indiana’s 9th district, later as Vice Chair of the 9-11 Commission and as Co-Chair of the Iraq Study Group. He is also director of the Center for Politics at Indiana University. His comments touched primarily on the congress and the Iraq war.
On the Iraq war, Hamilton expressed some considerable doubt that the troop surge ordered by President Bush in January has produced any lasting gains. In order to bring about any lasting solution in Iraq, Hamilton said, terrorists and insurgents must be cleared from an area, then that area must be maintained clear, and most important there must be rebuilding in the area. The surge has cleared some areas, particularly Anbar Province, of al-Qaeda and insurgents, but it is doubtful that will remain clear when troop strength is reduced and there are no efforts at all to begin vital rebuilding of the province.
In order for there to be any lasting change in Iraq, there must be a political reconciliation. Yet, there is no sign that Iraqi legislators have the ability or even the desire to resolve their differences. Hamilton noted that when Iraq Ambassador, Ryan Crocker, testified before the U.S. Senate, he said that he thought that the Iraq government had the ability to solve their most pressing problems. No Senator, Hamilton pointed out, asked Crocker to state the evidence he had to draw that conclusion. There seems to be very little.
Hamilton also said that America must change the way it views international issues. Most of all, we must "stop dividing the world by good and evil. He noted President Bush's "Axis of evil" reference as an example. The world is not that clear cut," Hamilton told the audience. Instead we must work on resolving differences that divide the U.S. from other nations and work on pragmatic solutions to problems.
With respect to the American political scene, Hamilton thinks congress lately has been much too timid. It is regrettable, he said, that over the years there has been a steady shift of power toward the executive branch. Congress must reassert its place as a co-equal branch of government. Hamilton noted that the U.S. Constitution assigns congress the power to make a war, but the last time Congress declared a war was in the 1940s. Since then America has fought wars with Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, and two with Iraq. All of these on orders by the President, while Congress stood by, more or less silent.
Hamilton wants Congress to be more aggressive in fulfilling its constitutionally assigned role. He pointed out to heavy applause from listeners that when congressional legislators take the oath of office, they swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States. They do not, he said, swear to support a President, the interests of their largest contributor, or even their constituents – only the constitution. He noted that all we all might interpret the Constitution a little different, but it is the Constitution that must guide a legislator’s actions.
Hamilton declined to endorse a particular candidate for president, but said that who ever takes office, both in the executive branch and in congress, must be people with the willingness and ability to build consensus within and across party lines. He deplored the tendency in today’s politics to use every problem as a vehicle for attack and political gain. This, he noted, poisons the political atmosphere making consensus difficult or impossible.
Lee Hamilton has long been one of my political heroes. He is a man with vast experience, both in and out of politics. We can all gain by listening to his sage advice.
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