posted on September 20, 2004 04:54:26 AM new
Republican Senators Criticize Bush's Iraq Policy
Arizona Sen. John McCain Says U.S. Made 'Serious Mistakes' After Invasion
By Randall Mikkelsen, Reuters
WASHINGTON (Sept. 19) - Leading members of President Bush's Republican Party on Sunday criticized mistakes and "incompetence" in his Iraq policy and called for an urgent ground offensive to retake insurgent sanctuaries.
In appearances on news talk shows, Republican senators also urged Bush to be more open with the American public after the disclosure of a classified CIA report that gave a gloomy outlook for Iraq and raised the possibility of civil war.
"The fact is, we're in deep trouble in Iraq ... and I think we're going to have to look at some recalibration of policy," Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
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"We made serious mistakes," said Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who has campaigned at Bush's side this year after patching up a bitter rivalry.
McCain, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," cited as mistakes the toleration of looting after the successful U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and failures to secure Iraq's borders or prevent insurgents from establishing strongholds within the country.
He said a ground offensive was urgently needed to retake areas held by insurgents, but a leading Democrat accused the administration of stalling for fear of hurting Bush's reelection chances.
The criticisms came as Bush prepared this week to host Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and focus strongly on Iraq after stepped up attacks from Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry.
After the CIA report was disclosed on Thursday, Kerry accused the president of living in a "fantasy world of spin" about Iraq and of not telling the truth about the growing chaos.
McCain said Bush had been "perhaps not as straight as maybe we'd like to see."
"I think the president is being clear. I would like to see him more clear," McCain said. He said Congress was expected to hold hearings on Iraq soon.
Sen. Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also criticized the administration's handling of Iraq's reconstruction.
Only $1 billion of $18.4 billion allocated by Congress for the task has been spent, Lugar said. "This is the incompetence in the administration," he said on ABC's "This Week."
GROUND OFFENSIVE
A ground offensive was essential to clearing insurgents out of strongholds such as Falluja, McCain said. He joined other lawmakers from both parties who said Iraqi elections scheduled for January would be impossible unless this were done.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the U.S. military intended to retake Falluja by the end of the year.
"We've got to take out the sanctuaries. We're going to have to sustain, tragically, some more casualties. Airstrikes don't do it; artillery doesn't do it. Boots on the ground do it," McCain said.
"And the longer we delay ...the more difficult the challenge is going to be and the more casualties we will incur," he said.
Sen. John Kyl, like McCain an Arizona Republican, said, "Allowing the Iraqis to make the decisions not to go into some of these sanctuaries, I think, turns out to have not been a good decision, which we're going to have to correct now by going in with our Marines and Army divisions."
Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, speaking on ABC, accused the administration of delaying an offensive out of concern it would hurt Bush's bid to win reelection on Nov. 2.
"The only thing I can figure as to why they're not doing it with a sense of urgency is that they don't want to do it before the election and they want to make it seem like everything is status quo," Biden said.
But Kyl said on CBS that time was also needed to train Iraqi troops to help secure areas recaptured from insurgents, and he disputed accusations Bush had not been open about the difficulties in Iraq.
McCain also called for enlarging the U.S. Army by 70,000 soldiers and the Marines by 20,000 to 25,000.
Kerry and other Democrats have said Bush plans to call up more part-time National Guard and Reserve troops after the November election to compensate for thinning ranks in the full-time military due to Iraq. The Bush campaign denied this.
Biden said disappointment with Bush's policies was bipartisan. "Dick Lugar, Joe Biden, Chuck Hagel, John McCain -- we are all on the same page. It is us and the administration. This has been incompetence so far," he said. (additional reporting by Sue Pleming)
posted on September 20, 2004 05:28:10 AM new
I agree, take off the gloves and get down to it... don't let little things like a mosque disuade you from leveling that building...
I have said this all along. We are being too nice there...
posted on September 20, 2004 06:45:10 AM new
Thanks bigpeepa, I guess I have to say not all Republicans are brain dead.
However, some, like linda, twelve, bear and other knuckle-draggers are.
I think they view "strength" as a chest pounding, violent bully. Back to cave man days for them!
The world is WAY too small to start wars on a whim or a guess, diplomacy must rule.
What is happening in Iraq right now is what most of the world SAID would happen. But bush's controllers didn't care and now we will all pay the price for years to come.
Except, of course, for Haliburton which will be reaping the profits for years helping to make DICK cheney even richer..
posted on September 20, 2004 11:00:02 AM new
Crowfarm, Yesterday on CNN they gave the results of a straw pole they took in 36 nations around the world. CNN asked people in 36 nations if they could vote for Kerry or Bush how would they vote. In 35 of the 36 nations Kerry won. This shows what people think of Bush world wide. The Republicans say we are part of a world economy. That is how they excuse the outsourcing of American jobs. Well if that is so we better get rid of Bush and get a President that knows how to deal with the world.
posted on September 20, 2004 01:19:03 PM new
"I agree, take off the gloves and get down to it... don't let little things like a mosque disuade you from leveling that building... "
Twelve, this simply proves how shallow, and to a greater degree, how stupid you really are when it comes to politics.
Any sane person can tell you that leveling a mosque would simply make matters worse. Iraqi's are very proud of their culture and religion. Mosques in their country are not just holy places of worship for Muslims, but are meccas where many religions from across the world identify as having major historical significance. These mosques are held in such high regard, that Americans have nothing to compare these to here in the United States. The closest thing that we could possibly compare would be the White House, or the Statue of Liberty, or Yankee Stadium (joking) which are each significant in our culture, but not even close to the level of those mosques.
Destroying a holy place of worship would simply anger the entire Iraqi community and help the recruiting efforts of extremist organizations. It would prove to the world that Bush, and the Americans are on a religious crusade to destroy other religious cultures.
Anyone who thinks the current administration is doing the right thing in Iraq is blind. Blind to the greed of American Corporate interests, blind to the fact that our sons and daughters who are their serving their country are risking their lives so that companies like Haliburton, and oil companies can profit off of the deaths of our soldiers and innocent Iraqi's. Bush has no plan, he has had no plan for anything his entire 4 year term, and has yet to accomplish one positive for America. These Republicans who speak out against him know this, and are not doing this to favor Kerry. They are speaking out because they know in their hearts that what is happening in Iraq is wrong, and Bush has no plans to admit he is wrong, let alone have a plan to resolve these conflicts.
posted on September 20, 2004 08:11:49 PM new
CNN reported 30 out of 35 countries...not 35 out of 36.
Then there are approximately 185-190 countries in the world.
Then:
Who's Alienating Our Allies?
Inasmuch as John Kerry has anything at all to say about Iraq, it is that as president he would somehow expand the U.S.-led alliance by winning over unspecified "foreign leaders" who are supposedly his confidantes. But look how the Kerry campaign treats America's actual allies. The candidate himself has insulted them by calling them "a fraudulent coalition" and "a coalition of the coerced and the bribed."
But it gets even worse. Check out this report from the Weekend Australian newspaper:
John Kerry's campaign has warned Australians that the Howard Government's support for the US in Iraq has made them a bigger target for international terrorists.
Yep, kerry's on OUR side alright....NOT!!!
Diana Kerry, younger sister of the Democrat presidential candidate, told The Weekend Australian that the Bali bombing and the recent attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta clearly showed the danger to Australians had increased.
"Australia has kept faith with the US and we are endangering the Australians now by this wanton disregard for international law and multilateral channels," she said, referring to the invasion of Iraq.
Asked if she believed the terrorist threat to Australians was now greater because of the support for Republican George W. Bush, Ms Kerry said: "The most recent attack was on the Australian embassy in Jakarta--I would have to say that."
Ms Kerry, who taught school in Indonesia for 15 years until 2000, is heading a campaign called Americans Overseas for Kerry which aims to secure the votes of Americans abroad--including the more than 100,000 living in Australia.
Well, first of all, let's give Diana Kerry a history lesson. The Bali bombing occurred in October 2002, five months before the liberation of Iraq began. Back then, Diana's brother supported the liberation of Iraq; this was before he opposed it before supporting it and then later opposing it again, etc.
In any case, here we have Diana Kerry, campaigning on her brother's behalf, telling America's staunchest ally that the way to be safe from terrorism is to betray America.
Does John Kerry agree?
---------
Good question to ask him. Maybe their whole family want other countries to turn against us too.
[taken from WSJ today]
"Those who doubted whether Iraq or the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein, and those who believe today that we are not safer with his capture, don´t have the judgment to be president or the credibility to be elected president." - john kerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"These dizzying contradictions -- so glaring, so public, so frequent -- have gone beyond undermining anything Kerry can now say on Iraq. They have been transmuted into a character issue."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What kind of man, aspiring to the presidency, does not know his own mind about the most serious issue of our time?" - Charles Krauthammer
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posted on September 20, 2004 08:27:57 PM new
DICK cheney threatened ALL of us by saying that if we didn't vote bush in there would be a terrorist attack.
That's a terroristic threat and aren't they illegal?
Funny....now linda's worried about Kerry's SISTER...Ha!
Linda says,"Back then, Diana's brother supported the liberation of Iraq; this was before he opposed it before supporting it and then later opposing it again, etc. "
Linduh, have ya read the bush flip-flop post yet? Or is your backbone as flimsy as bush's?
posted on September 20, 2004 08:45:11 PM new
Linda_K, did I make a mistake? Sorry! I am so glad you corrected me thanks. Here I thought that the CNN pole showed that Kerry would beat Bush in 35 out of 36 countries.
SO YOU SAY ITS 30 OUT OF 35 COUNTRIES WHERE KERRY WOULD BEAT BUSH IF THOSE PEOPLE COULD VOTE.
Thanks Linda_K you just proved my point and I stand corrected.
[ edited by bigpeepa on Sep 20, 2004 08:58 PM ]
