Posted on 07/05/2007 9:58:02 PM PDT by freedomdefender
Rep. John Doolittle, a consevative California congressman, today joined others in his party rapidly deserting the president on the Iraq war.
At a town hall meeting in Rocklin and then in a meeting with the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee he questioned whether the conflict was worth the loss of more American lives. He said U.S. troops should be pulled back from the front lines "as soon as possible" and the fighting turned over to Iraqi forces.
A longtime supporter of the war, Doolittle called the situation in Iraq a "quagmire" on Thursday. "We've got to get off the front lines as soon as possible," Doolittle said at Rocklin City Hall, the Bee reported. "And in my mind that means something like the end of the year. We just can't continue to tolerate these kinds of losses."
(Excerpt) Read more at editorandpublisher.com ...
Doolittle is irreparably damaged. Can Assembyman (IIRC) Guy Houston get a campaign ready in time for the primary?
I used to admire Doolittle, but between Abramoff and now this, he’s off my list.
There’s plenty of good news coming from Iraq, including quite an obvious note of desperation in Zawahiri’s latest video. What a shame the RINOS and weak-spined are fleeing for the hills. We could not have prevailed in WWII with the crowd we have representing us in Washington, that much is certain. Scary, really.
Why is Doolittle saying this now?
This development suggests either: 1 Doolittle wants to get attention off his troubles viz Abramoff (the way that the former Ill. gov. - when under a scandal cloud - suddenly became a liberal on capital punishment; or 2 his polls say that Iraq war is very unpopular and could help defeat him.
I don't get it. I mean, here is what "quagmire" means in this context.
2 : a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position : PREDICAMENT
Ok, so whoop dee doo, I AGREE that the situation in Iraq is a "quagmire". It's difficult, it's precarious, and it's entrapping.
So freaking what? What's that prove? "That we must withdraw our troop presence"? No. It does not. It doesn't even come close to proving that. Why do so many people think it does? What am I missing here? When was it decided that the word "quagmire" was a magic label?
Everyone just recognize the facts. These politicians are crapping themselves because of self interest. The reality of the world will be determined on the ground in Iraq and AFg.
I like what i see over there for the last few weeks. We have finally turned up the heat.
One of the few things I still support W on - the war effort.
These idiots are a menace.
The Battle of the Bulge was a quagmire. Gettysburg was a quagmire. The invasion of normandy was a quagmire.
Disgusting. Conservative in press releases only.
“We just can’t continue to tolerate these kinds of losses.”
The loss of one fighting man’s death is a tragedy. But let’s put it into perspective:
From Investors’ Business Daily:
Since the war began, we’ve lost about 70 troops a month. This compares with 526 a month in Vietnam, more than 900 a month in Korea and 6,639 a month during World War II.
Maybe Doolittle meant losses at the polling booths. He’s not my Congressman, but he should suck it up.
what a turd Ping
He’s a total POS. I have friends and family in Iraq and headed to the sandbox in August and September. It’s jerks like this that make me worry for my people. Jerks like this give inspiration to the terrorist a-hole that sent Travis Burkhart and Kyle Wherley back to us in bodybags. Travis had children that will never see their father again, and this Representative want his death to be in vain, because the rep. can’t even deal with snotty reporters. Words fail me, I’m so angry.
I'm glad Rep. Doolittle wasn't in Congress when our troops were fighting at Chateau Thierry, the Argonne Forest, Monte Cassino, Okinawa, or the Chosin Reservoir.
No, none of them were quagmires. They all ended in a matter of days or weeks (3 or 4 days in the case of Gettysburg). Our Iraq war is a war without end, or it sure seems that way. The longest war in American history, at this point, isn't it?
From Pearl Harbor to V-J day was what - less than four years. Iraq war is now more than 4 years old, and no end is sight. Americans are in a foul mood about it - and the Republicans are facing a political wipeout in 2008. Doolittle won't be the last GOP member of Congress to call for a change, because the Republicans don't want to be reduced to a veto-overriding minority in Congress, as Hillary occupies the White House. Freepers can thump their chests in favor of endless war in Iraq, but when the Democrats sweep into Washington because of Americans' fatigue with that war, we're all going to be losers - and they'll pull troops from Iraq in any case.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010302
I suggest that my fellow FR patriots send a copy of this editorial to their congressmen and senators. It is time that a line be drawn in the sand and that we stand firm in Iraq.
It's a bizarre world when self-styled "conservative" freepers think Lieberman - a Democrat - is an oracle, while they denounce any Republican, no matter how conservative, who thinks the no-win, no-end war in Iraq is a mistake. If Goldwater were alive, he'd be furious about this no-end war. Reagan - he would never have started it to begin with. He was into winning wars - the Cold War - without invading countries.
Doolittle wants troops out of military role in Iraq
By Peter Hecht - Bee Capitol Bureau
Rep. John Doolittle, questioning whether the Iraq war is worth the continued loss of American lives, Thursday said U.S. troops should be pulled back from the front lines “as soon as possible” and the fighting should be turned over to Iraqi forces.
In this case, the criticism came from an arch-conservative Republican who had campaigned with Bush and long repeated the president’s refrain that Iraq is a central front in the war on terror.
But on Thursday, Doolittle characterized the war as a “quagmire” and said America should soon step back to a training and advisory role for Iraqi forces.
“We’ve got to get off the front lines as soon as possible,” Doolittle told a gathering at the Rocklin City Hall chambers. “And in my mind that means something like the end of the year. We just can’t continue to tolerate these kinds of losses.”
I'm not sure I am following your point. Would you rather the war end quicker in exchange for us suffering casualties at the rates we suffered during the Civil War, WII, Korea or Vietnam?
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