Posted on 06/12/2005 10:42:33 PM PDT by Pikamax
Republican lawmakers urge shift in Iraq plans Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:58 PM ET
By Vicki Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican congressman called for a deadline to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, while some other members of President Bush's party urged on Sunday that his administration come to grips with a persistent insurgency and revamp Iraq policy.
Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina conservative, said on ABC's "This Week" that he would offer legislation this week setting a timetable for the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
"I voted for the resolution to commit the troops, and I feel that we've done about as much as we can do," said Jones, who coined the phrase "freedom fries" to lash out at the French for opposing the Iraq invasion.
Other Republicans on television talk shows joined Democrats in criticizing the administration for playing down the insurgency, while overestimating the ability of Iraq's fledgling forces to fight without U.S. soldiers in the lead and failing to plan for the post-invasion occupation.
"The insurgency is alive and well. We underestimated the viability of the insurgency," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CBS' Face the Nation. He said the administration has "been slow to adjust when it comes to troop strength and supporting our troops."
Graham said the Army is contending with a serious shortfall in recruiting "because this war is going sour in terms of word of mouth from parents and grandparents." He said "if we don't adjust, public opinion is going to keep slipping away."
Jones, a member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said "primarily the neoconservatives" in the administration were to blame for flawed war planning.
"The reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there," he said.
Jones joins some of Congress' most liberal Democrats in demanding a deadline to withdraw troops from a conflict they said has been too costly in U.S. lives and money.
According to a new Gallup Poll, nearly six in 10 Americans say the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq, up from 49 percent who held that view in February, USA Today reported in its Monday edition.
The Bush administration contends that setting a withdrawal date would fuel an insurgency that Vice President Dick Cheney recently said was in "the last throes."
Graham opposed setting a date. "If the insurgents drive us out ... we've lost a big battle in the war on terror," he said.
Jones said he was pushing the legislation because his "heart aches" at the nearly 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and 12,000 seriously wounded in Iraq. He said Iraqis should defend themselves once their forces are trained.
Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who just returned from Iraq, joined several Democrats saying the administration must be more candid and acknowledge that it could take about two years to train Iraqi forces to replace U.S. soldiers and allow a significant pullout.
"We can't come back to America and have our people being convinced that the Iraqi troops are prepared to take over, when they're not," he said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Weldon also said the administration must "come to grips" with a rising insurgency, boosted by fighters from Syria and Iran, "which for some reason our intelligence community does not want to acknowledge or deal with."
Weldon said he heard "a common theme" in Iraq that the largest number of foreign insurgents may be coming from Syria, but that "Iran overwhelmingly has the quality behind the insurgency."
Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, said on CNN's Late Edition, that "many of us warned this administration before we ever put a boot on the ground" that it would face a long-term conflict. "We didn't have plans for it. And we are now where we are," he said.
Don't beat yourself up about agreeing with a Dem. Weldon's a Republican.
I realizes that right after I posted it. If these congress-critters knew anything about sealing borders, we'd be able to keep insurgents from getting into Iraq AND the USA. Read my tagline. I am so afraid that our open borders will result in an attack that will dwarf the casualties of 9/11. All because these same folks won't take a stance.
It's not all that likely that the terrorists will use the US-Mexican border, as opposed to any of a hundred other points of entry.
Now, aliens do get across the border - but a huge percentage of them are caught and turned back at some point. It's not a sure-fire way. And if you're planning something big, and you've got money, why take a chance?
Physically sealing that border against terrorists would be hard, if not downright impossible. That's why we need to fight them and keep them tied down overseas.
Physically sealing that border against terrorists would be hard, if not downright impossible. That's why we need to fight them and keep them tied down overseas.
We need to fight terrorism on BOTH fronts.
The BP admits that they only catch one of every 5 or so illegals crossing, so the odds are pretty good on the side of entry. The coyotes have got it down to a science.
I am behind the administration 100% on our war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but am grossly dissapointed in their efforts on illegal immigration.
For the record, I am a retired military and Vietnam vet. I have been in/worked for the military for 35 years now. That does not make me an expert in our WOT, but I can assure you we aren't doing ourselves any favor by exposing our borders like we do.
Bases Recommended for closing...
North Carolina
Navy Reserve Center, Asheville
Niven U.S. Army Reserve Center, Albermarle
"Good Grief .. was Congress this bad after WWII ???"
No, because congress and the population unanimously agreed the war was necessary, which is not the case now.
"what we need to do is widen the war and take out Iran and Syria"
With what Army? We keep massively missing recruiting targets and its not going to get any better. Moms and Dads don't want their kids to serve their country these days. Selfish.
where are you going to get the troops?
I too hate how politicains don't care about anything but money and getting re-elected to keep that juicy power. But as for the media goons talking to our Military leaders, I found this here. It's an interview with Tim Colins the same Colonel who gave a very good going to war speech that, like it says in the artilce and I've seen elsewhere, Bush hanged up on a wall.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Questions-for-Tim-Collins/2005/06/12/1118514914282.html?oneclick=true
That's like telling the burglar when you're going on vacation.
not sure what DU is but no thanks.
Amen.
LifeBoat?
How 'bout icefishing?
There sure is a lot of chest thumping bravado and denial on this thread.
Invade Syria and Iran ? With what troops ?
The insurgency will is in its death throes after Operation Lightning. The insurgency will die down after the election. The insurgency will die down after we pacify Fallujah. The insurgency will die down after we capture Saddam Hussein.
The American people have had enough.
This war biz just does'nt want to settle for tidy answers Sam. Guess it's not like an episode on TV. Seems like many people want predictable outcomes. "Mission Accomplished" was interpreteted as "Died and Gone to Heaven" by some folks.
Wait till you hear from the "Home for Christmas" crowd...they're warming up next door.
Kinda like the troops was suppose to be home for Christmas??
Noone expects tidy answers. Just a coherent plan based on realistic goals.
We don't have the manpower to pacify the Sunni Triangle or prevent civil war. And the American people are not going to lose 5 men a day for the next decade trying.
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