Posted on 08/22/2005 9:32:49 AM PDT by hildy123
A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts and other military honors for his service in Vietnam, reiterated his position that the United States needs to develop a strategy to leave Iraq.
Hagel scoffed at the idea that U.S. troops could be in Iraq four years from now at levels above 100,000, a contingency for which the Pentagon is preparing.
"We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."
(AP) In this photo released by NBC, Larry Diamond, author of the book "Squandered Victory: The American... Full Image
Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he said.
President Bush was preparing for separate speeches this week to reaffirm his plan to help Iraq train its security forces while its leaders build a democratic government. In his weekly Saturday radio address, Bush said the fighting there protected Americans at home.
Polls show the public growing more skeptical about Bush's handling of the war.
In Iraq, officials continued to craft a new constitution in the face of a Monday night deadline for parliamentary approval. They missed the initial deadline last week.
Other Republican senators appearing on Sunday news shows advocated remaining in Iraq until the mission set by Bush is completed, but they also noted that the public is becoming more and more concerned and needs to be reassured.
(AP) In this image released by NBC, Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., is interviewed on NBC's "Meet the... Full Image
Sen. George Allen, R-Va., another possible candidate for president in 2008, disagreed that the U.S. is losing in Iraq. He said a constitution guaranteeing basic freedoms would provide a rallying point for Iraqis.
"I think this is a very crucial time for the future of Iraq," said Allen, also on ABC. "The terrorists don't have anything to win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq. All they care to do is disrupt."
Hagel, who was among those who advocated sending two to three times as many troops to Iraq when the war began in March 2003, said a stronger military presence by the U.S. is not the solution today.
"We're past that stage now because now we are locked into a bogged-down problem not unsimilar, dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam," Hagel said. "The longer we stay, the more problems we're going to have."
Allen said that unlike the communist-guided North Vietnamese who fought the U.S., the insurgents in Iraq have no guiding political philosophy or organization. Still, Hagel argued, the similarities are growing.
(AP) In this photo released by ABC, Sen. George Allen, R-Va., interviewed on ABC's "This Week", in... Full Image
"What I think the White House does not yet understand - and some of my colleagues - the dam has broke on this policy," Hagel said. "The longer we stay there, the more similarities (to Vietnam) are going to come together."
The Army's top general, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press that the Army is planning for the possibility of keeping the current number of soldiers in Iraq - well over 100,000 - for four more years as part of preparations for a worst-case scenario.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said U.S. security is tied to success in Iraq, and he counseled people to be patient.
"The worst-case scenario is not staying four years. The worst-case scenario is leaving a dysfunctional, repressive government behind that becomes part of the problem in the war on terror and not the solution," Graham said on "Fox News Sunday.
Allen said the military would be strained at such levels in four years yet could handle that difficult assignment. Hagel described the Army contingency plan as "complete folly."
"I don't know where he's going to get these troops," Hagel said. "There won't be any National Guard left ... no Army Reserve left ... there is no way America is going to have 100,000 troops in Iraq, nor should it, in four years."
Hagel added: "It would bog us down, it would further destabilize the Middle East, it would give Iran more influence, it would hurt Israel, it would put our allies over there in Saudi Arabia and Jordan in a terrible position. It won't be four years. We need to be out."
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the U.S. is winning in Iraq but has "a way to go" before it meets its goals there. Meanwhile, more needs to be done to lay out the strategy, Lott said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I do think we, the president, all of us need to do a better job, do more," Lott said, by telling people "why we have made this commitment, what is being done now, what we do expect in the process and, yes, why it's going to take more time."
Wonder if Hagel is ms. cindy's secret lover.
nebraska looks a lot like a cornfield.
I say......HAGEL is looking like an A******
A RINO traitor in the senate? What a surprise.
Hagel is a scumbag!
How many of our brave soldiers die now because of his remarks?
How many Terrorists will take comfort in what he said?
How many will fight one more day?
How much blood is now on "Hillery Hagel's" hands?
Don't forget he is running for President. He has gone to the McCain school.
It seems that Chuck Hagel has forgotten something
important...
To tuck his pink tie in his shirt, so that all the
military can recognise the sincerity of his position.
>B-(
Hillary Clinton has supported the war from the begining and still supports it now.
Can't - stop - laughing - long - enough - to - read - article...
In her hypocritical, triangulating way.
Another RINOcrat speaks.
Why we are there! To save Israel. Secondly, to bring peace to the region. Next, to stop terrorist attacks on the USofA. This last will not stop. If not the Jihadist it will be the Sheehans/Democrats. They are just one step from using violence in their own country to try to gain power.
If it was Hagel's hope to get some publicity, it worked. If he thinks this is going to help him in his desire to be President, it won't.
There was once a great American General who misjudged the progress of a war. Benedict Arnold got cold feet and deserted the cause.
He is being followed by Senator Hagel who also misunderstands the current war.
Call this idiot and tell his staff that he will NEVER recieve the repub nomination, and his comments are wreckless and irresponsible
Chuck Hagel
Office Locations
Washington, D.C. Office
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-4224
Fax: (202) 224-5213
Omaha Office
11301 Davenport Street, Suite 2
Omaha, NE 68154
Tel: (402) 758-8981
Fax: (402) 758-9165
Lincoln Office
294 Federal Building
100 Centennial Mall North
Lincoln, NE 68508
Tel: (402) 476-1400
Fax: (402) 476-0605
Kearney Office
4111 Fourth Avenue, Suite 26
Kearney, NE 68845
Tel: (308) 236-7602
Fax: (308) 236-7473
Scottsbluff Office
115 Railway Street, Suite C102
Scottsbluff, NE 69361
Tel: (308) 632-6032
Fax: (308) 632-6295
He's not a traitor...He is beaten, and has accepted
that he is a loser.
Hey Chuck, have you floated this stupidity by your constituents?
Your higher political asperations have come to a grinding halt and you have shown yourself to be a stupid idiot.
what a selfish POS, knows hes a loser and torpedos the war effort because of it
I wasn't aware that this was one of the reasons we are fighting the war in Iraq?
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