Bi-partisan is not a four letter word

In light of the dust-up between the democrats and Joe Lieberman, a friend tipped me to a column in the Washington Monthly detailing the Iraq Policy Group, a bi-partisan contingent of high-level government superstars set up to study the situation in Iraq. The group has received limited fanfare aside from the initial announcement.

Headed by GOP man-of-all-seasons James Baker and 9/11 Commissioner Lee Hamilton, the group's mission is to find solutions to our Iraq 'experiment'. Rudy Guilliani was a former member but left (for obvious reasons).

Washington Monthly writer Robert Dreyfuss seems to paint the whole thing with a sinister brush, suggesting a near-cave level clandestine operation almost to the level of the Bilderbergers and involving the hidden hand of Bush 41. However, one can easily find the group's website on Google. Actually the article isn't too bad until the last paragraph, where he snuck in an obligitory jab to the President's gut. But the main unanswered question is what, if anything, can be gleaned from the existence of this group?

The 'talk-before-thinking' set might opine that Baker, whom they still blame for stealing the 2000 election, is merely trying to spin the unpleasant headlines, however such logic fractures when considering the group's participants such as Vernon Jordan and Leon Panetta.

More likely they're looking to find a workable exit strategy without overly blaming either party, and at the same time furthering our long-term interests in the region. If the group was set up as a spin machine it wouldn't have been populated with democrats.

Bush isn't driving this train, although he's wandered aboard at a few stops. Republican Frank Wolf of Virginia is credited as the finder, arriving there after several eye-opening visits to Iraq. He provided Dreyfuss some insight:

"Some of the scenarios that were given to me [included] the overthrow of the Saudi government, [along with both] the Jordanian government and the Egyptian government.... So I just felt, let's take another look. And no one should be afraid of doing it."

Mr. Dreyfuss glossed over this part, but I think it shows clearly that the level of present concern exceeds finger-pointing. The Middle East is now at a junction, and America and the west's fortunes will be largely affected by the way things go.

It's nice to know some intelligent and experienced Americans are on the case. The issues we face as a nation, such as the GWoT or others are all tied together and tend to float to the surface in the partisan pool of pettiness. Joe Lieberman fully understands, and look what it got him.