Posted on 06/20/2005 6:12:00 PM PDT by GailA
Congressman's TV campaign spots urge U.S. to bring troops home soon
WASHINGTON -- The war in Iraq is the most urgent and perplexing issue facing the nation at the moment, so the congressman from Memphis who wants to be a U.S. senator needed to be out front -- of everybody -- with his views on the war last week.
With the first television campaign commercial of the 2006 cycle, U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., introduced himself to all the major media markets in Tennessee with the message, "Let's work hard to bring them home soon, and with honor."
And because it was also the first Senate campaign commercial anywhere in the country, Ford got his message out on the networks and cable nationwide. In an interview about Iraq with The Commercial Appeal, he summed up his concerns: "We've got a long way to go and we need some new approaches. As you know, we have to win this effort and I don't believe we're going to win with the approach we have on the ground right now."
Ford is careful not to blame the troops. "This is not an indictment of our soldiers," he said. "We have the bravest and best soldiers in the world. ... The fact that they are so brave and so willing to do for us, we in government should be inspired to do what's right for them as well, which is to get a better policy on the ground."
After his return from Iraq over the Memorial Day weekend, Ford wrote a letter to President Bush suggesting that he and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld "should stop overstating our success in Iraq because it overshadows and diminishes actual progress being made" there.
While he applauded Bush's steadfast efforts to combat terrorism, his frank suggestion that the administration might be wearing rose-colored glasses struck a new tone.
Both in the letter and in an interview, Ford suggested Iraqi police recruits be trained in Europe or the United States.
Ford told the newspaper that he had hoped to meet with Memphian Michael J. Heidingsfield, the contingent commander of the State Department's effort to build a 135,000-member police force, while he was in Baghdad. But it didn't work out.
Heidingsfield, on leave as president of the Memphis and Shelby County Crime Commission, visited the 3,000-cadet police training academy outside Amman, Jordan, last month. He advises in the field training of the existing Iraqi police force by American civilian contractors at police stations throughout Iraq.
Although he didn't meet with Heidingsfield, Ford was familiar with some things he's said, including his statement that the insurgency "could go on like this forever."
Said Ford: "'Forever' is unacceptable. I mean, the American people aren't going to accept 'forever,' and neither am I."
On the two-day visit to Iraq, Ford said he and the six Republicans in the delegation met with senior military officials. Their questions "primarily centered on 'how long?'" The response was that, more than two years after the invasion, few of the Iraqi forces are fully functional, he said.
"The process isn't going as fast or as smooth as we'd like," Ford said. "Maybe we should consider sending some, if not all, but definitely some, to training academies in other places -- get them out of that environment.
"It might be useful to send some of these men and women who are training to be part of the police forces to places where you have smart, full-of-integrity, capable, efficient police forces operating, and put them in an environment 24 hours a day where they're surrounded by that kind of order and discipline and efficiency."
On the increasingly controversial issue of whether the Pentagon should set a timetable for bringing the troops home, Ford said he'd like the President to weigh in.
"I'm of the opinion the President should come lay out a plan for what has to take place for the troops to begin withdrawing, and how long he thinks that will take. ... We've heard people speculate, but we've not heard the commander-in-chief ... deliver an address about what the strategy is and how long he believes it will take.
"I mean, he was excited about announcing the start of the war. He was equally excited about announcing the end of the war, in his mind," Ford said. "He was very excited about announcing the (Iraqi) elections and when he spoke before the Congress shortly after the election, he proclaimed that the elections were a resounding success.
"With that mind, we now face a lot of uncertainty in Iraq," he said. "It's clear from the trip (to Iraq) that we need some new approaches."
Ford last week also endorsed the idea that hearings should be held on the leaked minutes of a meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers that appears to suggest Bush had made up his mind by the summer of 2002 to invade Iraq and that in the U.S. "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
"We probably should hold some hearings," on what's now referred to as the Downing Street memo, said Ford. "The Republicans were very reluctant to hold hearings when we learned that there was $8 billion missing from the Coalition Provisional Authority before administrator (Paul) Bremer left. If there's no truth to this, we shouldn't allow the rumor to swirl."
Contact Washington correspondent Bartholomew Sullivan at (202) 408-2726.
I'm with Ford on this one. In the spirit of new approaches I call on all U.S. Congressional and Senate representatives to support our troops and the war effort.
Why is it so hard for the Dems to fully support our war effort?
Typical democrat, all mouth and no real solutions to any problem. I guess he wants to pull the troops out before we can finish the job we went there to do. Then in a few years we can go back for Gulf War III.
Be nice, Gail. It can't be easy to be the son of H.F., Sr., and a nephew to John. He has had a rough two weeks, what with all the Tennessee Waltz revelations, his senate run dead in its tracks, and Uncle Johnny tying his indictments to a Jr. smear campaign.
He has to be wondering why his felonious family members can't just leave the country until after the '06 elections are over.
The Ford family doesn't know the meaning of honor.
Yo, Sen. Ford. How come no commercial demanding we bring the soldiers serving in Haiti and Bosnia home?
This is from the
THE MESOPOTAMIAN website http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Dear Friends,
Just a quick note, to the American public: this is no time to lose heart, the fight is just now changing gear. We the Iraqis are confident of winning this battle. This so-called “insurrection” may be characterized as the “Unpopular Revolt” rather than the opposite. It is doomed to failure. We have never pretended that this can be achieved overnight. It takes time and struggle, but to those who think that the insurgency is growing I would like to say this: It is the power of the people that is growing, it is the strength and effectiveness of the new patriotic security forces that is growing, such forces that are for the first time in our history representative of the majority of the people. Time is on the side of the people and not their enemies.
Yes, this is no time to lose heart friends.
# posted by Alaa : 5:02 AM
Ford doesn't stand a chance in Red-State Tennessee.
This ain't the People's State of Illinois.
A vote against him is one I look forward to casting.
Fleming was saying on his show this afternoon, my EX-senator has been seen at Macy's and the Peabody...both are in violation of his bail conditions.
Thanks for the post. I makes me wonder exactly how many Iraqi PEOPLE that guys like Ford and Hagel actually seek out during their so-called fact finding trips.
Junior knows every dollar spent on National defense is money that could have been spent on Old English Malt liquor,Wild Irish Rose Muscatel wine, Lottery tickets, crack cocaine and other essentials for his constituents.
JUNIOR has started running his ads, this one is about the Troops and bring them home. At this rate he'll be out of money in 6 months...as the election is 16 months away.
I would bet to say, none. There are many post like this as well.
"He's a big potato in Shelby county and just a spud in the Eastern part of the state."
The GOP is well organized in Tennessee (especially in the eastern part of the state)and looks to have three excellent candidates, two of whom have recently campaigned for statewide office (Hilleary and Bryant).
Anyone who would make such an ignorant statement doesn`t have the judgment or reasoning to be serving in our government.
One would expect such a naive statement coming from someone in high school who has never experienced the demands of day to day life.
Thanks. I plan to watch with interest. My Dad just doesn't keep up with political news there so I have to read Tn news of FR.
However, we DID elect Jim Sasser how many times? And Ray Blanton. And we got Jimmy Naifeh and John Wilder and John Tanner...And we have a Dem governor (largely because we had a RINO who disgraced Repubs and the entire state prior to the current governor's election).
Poor Junior---while in blue states attractive and "well-spoken" young black men become veritable saviors (e.g., Obama.)
Junior seriously needs to cut his losses and move to New York or Illinois, carpet bagger style, like Hillary and Obama, and run there.
Don't underestimate the lure of this line. The 2008 election will be about getting us out of Iraq. Nixon didn't say what his plan was, he just had the advantage of saying he'd get us out of Vietnam 'with honor' and he wasn't from the incumbent party who'd gotten us in.
The GOP ignores this at their peril.
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