Posted on 04/19/2007 5:17:21 PM PDT by Kaslin
WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) said Thursday the war in Iraq is "lost," triggering an angry backlash by Republicans who said the top Democrat had turned his back on the troops.
The bleak assessment was the sharpest yet from Reid, who has vowed to send President Bush legislation calling for combat to end next year. Reid said he told Bush on Wednesday that he thought the war could not be won through military force and only through political, economic and diplomatic means.
"I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and — you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows — (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday," said Reid, D-Nev.
Republicans pounced on the comment as evidence, they said, that Democrats do not support the troops.
"I can't begin to imagine how our troops in the field, who are risking their lives every day, are going to react when they get back to base and hear that the Democrat leader of the United States Senate has declared the war is lost," said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky.
The exchange came as the House headed toward a vote Thursday on whether to demand that troops leave Iraq next year. Last month, the House passed legislation that funded the war in Iraq but ordered combat missions to end by September 2008. The Senate passed similar, less-sweeping legislation that would set a nonbinding goal of bringing combat troops home by March 31, 2008.
Bush said he would veto either measure and warned that troops are being harmed by Congress' failure to deliver the funds quickly.
The Pentagon says it has enough money to pay for the Iraq war through June. The Army is taking "prudent measures" aimed at ensuring that delays in the bill financing the war do not harm troop readiness, according to instructions sent to Army commanders and budget officials April 14.
While $70 billion that Congress provided in September for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has mostly run out, the Army has told department officials to slow the purchase of nonessential repair parts and other supplies, restrict the use of government charge cards, and limit travel.
The Army also will delay contracts for facilities repair and environmental restoration, according to instructions from Army Comptroller Nelson Ford. He said the accounting moves are similar to those enacted last year when the Republican-led Congress did not deliver a war funding bill to Bush until mid-June.
More stringent steps would be taken in May, such as a hiring freeze and firing temporary employees, but exceptions are made for any war-related activities or anything that "would result immediately in the degradation of readiness standards" for troops in Iraq or those slated for deployment.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called the Democrat's stance "disturbing" and all but dared Reid to cut off funding for the war.
"If this is his true feeling, then it makes one wonder if he has the courage of his convictions and therefore will decide to defund the war," she said.
Reid has left that possibility open. The majority leader supports separate legislation that would cut off funding for combat missions after March 2008. The proposal would allow money spent on such efforts as counterterrorism efforts and training Iraqi security forces.
Reid and other Democrats were initially reluctant to discuss such draconian measures to end the war, but no longer.
"I'm not sure much is impossible legislatively," Reid said Thursday. "The American people have indicated . . . that they are fed up with what's going on."
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Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.
I am so angry I don’t even know what to say
Good point. Lieberman has stated time again that the WOT is far and away the most important issue of our time. Harry Reid and the Dems’ Senate majority is directly standing in the way of an American victory. (In fact, many prominent Dem pols [like Reid] are actively giving aid and comfort to and rooting for the enemy). The impact of Lieberman defecting to the GOP and thus securing a Republican majority would not be insignificant. Time for Lieberman to take a stand and make the move. Too much is at stake.
I told him he was a disgrace and has just insulted my son, hubby and the US military.....etc.....
“I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and — you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows — (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday,” said Reid, D-Nev.
For that single statement alone, Reid needs to immediately resign.
Nothing else this POS has done or said is more relevant as a justification for demanding this Traitors immediate resignation.
Absolutely disgusting. That stupid sonofabitch.
Talk about instant gratification! Set your bombs off today, and tomorrow the boss of the Senate announces defeat. The terrorists hardly had to wait a day for their reward.
The way he backtracked was to say that we WILL lose the war unless Pres. Bush changes his strategy to THEIRS.
Well...since their strategy is to surrender...I don’t think he did himself any favors.
Also...the fact that the also included the Sec. of State, and the Sec. of Defense in his supposition that we have lost the war...makes me very angry also!!!
I would like to hear Condi and Gates tell him that is not his JOB..to speak for them.
The Democrats have GOT to be nuts. They are so divorced from reality, from what their words in the media mean, so uncaring about how such a proclamation can inject new life into the Al Qaeda troops fighting our soldiers...
Well, I tried. But seriously, I cannot come up with a response to this, because it seems positively unreal. Reid is trying to be Walter Cronkite.
Simply put, I'm stunned by this.
Sounds like Harry Reid and Jack ‘Cut n’ Run’ Murtha have been exchanging bodily fluids.
No doubt in my mind.
A pair of yellow bellied, jelly-spined, COWARDS.
IMO, Harry Reid isn’t worthy of licking the bottoms of our troops boots after they’ve been on patrol in the slums of Baghdad. Reid can be reached 888-355-3588 (which is the Congressional switchboard).
He should tell that to the Marines.
A lib is a lib is a lib. Never
In case any of you missed this link on FR yesterday, I highly recommend this video which includes a man talking to the troops and telling it like it is with regard to Liberals. I’ve sent it to my entire address book in the hopes that it gets all over the Internet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Yc3wYJOtI
Oh they care alright -- it's exactly what they want. As long as we have a GOP President they want us to lose this war. Partisan politics - the Dems controling the executive branch, specifically - trumps everything else in their warped view of the world. Power-obsessed lunatics.
What does General griddlee say?
I've held my tongue. My thoughts exactly.
Instead of seeing headlines like this, I’d like to see something more along the lines of
“Harry Reid Beaten Up By Petite Female Marine”
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