Challenges to Bush's Iraq Policy Gain Dramatic Momentum

LA Slimes ^ | November 2 2005 | Janet Hook and Ronald Brownstein

[jmc1969]

WASHINGTON -- For months, the politics of the Iraq war have been frozen in place, with stalwart Republicans defending President Bush's policy and most Democrats shunning a direct challenge.

Now, the ice has begun to crack.

In the face of solidifying public opposition to the war, a mounting U.S. body count and a renewed focus on the faulty intelligence used to justify the war, Democratic lawmakers and candidates have sharpened their critique of the administration's policy and, in some cases, urged a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

"The mood has really shifted," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who in August became the chamber's first member to call for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. "We are in a whole different period."

Even before the Senate showdown, challenges to administration policy were multiplying in recent weeks: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for the first time called for new ways to accelerate troop withdrawals.

Several Democratic congressional candidates began to urge Bush to set a timeline for ending U.S. involvement in the war. And more Republicans in competitive races — including a senior Senate leader — pointedly questioned the administration's rosy assessment of the war's prospects.

[TheCrusader]

"The mood has really shifted," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.),"

And it can shift the other way just as quickly mr. Feingold. Wars are never popular, but Islam itself, with their barbaric mentality and bloody hands, will make the war on terror 'popular' again.