[ManM]

Originally Posted by Clutch

Is that the plan in its entirety, or a press release "talking points" document?

Originally Posted by Website

Today, Democratic leaders across the country will join House and Senate Democrats in unveiling a comprehensive plan for providing the American people with real security. The agenda stands in stark contrast to the dangerous incompetence of the Republican leadership, which has undermined the security of the American people. Given their failed record, it’s no wonder Republicans are losing credibility on a range of issues including security and defense. In fact, according to a recent DNC poll, the Republican rhetoric is not working, as Americans want policies that are both tough and smart and offer real solutions.

The Democratic plan, entitled "Real Security: The Democratic Plan to Protect America and Restore Our Leadership in the World," outlines a bold vision for how Democrats will lead on National Security.

The plan is available for download here, and is also available at the bottom of this page.

That's quite a piece of rhetoric about a “comprehensive plan”, if the subject of the webpage is actually merely an outline. If you know where I can get a more detailed version, let me know.

Originally Posted by Clutch

I see. How are they going to "apply military force overseas" in a way that will eliminate Osama Bin Laden? I don't see any specifics there.

Turn on the news and you will probably see more specifics about the plan than the powers that be intended for you to see.

Originally Posted by Clutch

Of course, obvious specific measures that would pretty plausibly fit in there would be plans to improve intelligence, and to beef up the manpower of the military. Still more specifically, this could be done partly by making the career less off-putting -- by giving them better personal gear, and a GI "bill of rights" to head off the sort of nasty bait-and-switches they've had under the Republicans. Who do you suppose very specifically says that these concrete measures will be taken? The Dems. In the very document you're quoting from. Same page, in fact.

This establishes a plan to increase the ranks of the military. That's a good start. How do they plan to use a beefed up military?

Originally Posted by Clutch

What a fascinating interpretation of an (alleged) Republican vague promise minus any clear implementation, in comparison to multiple relatively specific Democrat plans.

How can you say there is no clear implementation when the details of the actual implementation is reported on a near daily basis?

Originally Posted by Clutch

I suspect they're expecting readers to be aware of the manifest fact, or at least to pick up on the obvious implicature, that invading Iraq doesn't seem to have eliminated a terrorist breeding ground. Perhaps they expect too much, but that's what I imagine they thought. So the utterly natural interpretation is that they will be cleverly adopting non-invasion-and-occupation approaches to the problem. I accept that they do not specify all or any of the obvious tools that one might use to this end, such as targeted aid, skilled diplomacy, trade sanctions, trade rewards, humanitarian interventions, and the like. It seemed pretty clear to me that these and other policies would be at their disposal. Again, this seemed rather more obvious to me than any alleged connection between invading countries in the manner of Iraq and somehow ending up with governments that create happiness. That seemed the particularly egregious "implementation gap".

Right, the Republican plan turned out to be a bad one. The culture in Iraq is not one conducive to democracy, so imposing that system on them was not as beneficial as the Republicans thought. However, and I think you acknowledged it, the Democrats aren't laying their cards on the table. They are stating goals, and leaving us to understand that they will achieve those goals by not doing what the Republicans are doing. Sure, they have a bunch of options at their disposal, but why not spell out which ones they are going to use, and explain clearly how their actions will achieve their goals? A guarantee that they are not going to do what the Republicans are doing isn't enough. I would like some assurance that the Democrats actually do have a better plan, and won't wind up doing something just as dumb as the current administration.