Posted on 02/28/2002 12:01:58 PM PST by B-bone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, in remarks immediately assailed by Republicans, said on Thursday there seems to be "expansion without at least a clear direction" in the administration's war on terrorism.
"Before we make commitments in resources I think we need to have a clear understanding of what the direction would be," the South Dakota Democrat told reporters, reflecting a growing Democratic concern.
Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, promptly replied: "How dare Senator Daschle criticize President (George W.) Bush while we are fighting our war on terrorism, especially when we have troops in the field?
"He should not be trying to divide our country while we are united," Lott said.
Daschle said the war to date has been successful and that he does not want to "second guess" the president. But he also said the administration needed to better explain where it was headed.
"I don't think the success has been overstated, but the continued success, I think, is still somewhat in doubt," Daschle said.
His comments came a day after a number of congressional Democrats opened fire on the Defense Department's $379 billion budget request and what they described as its opened-ended war on terrorism.
'BLANK CHECKS'
At a congressional hearing, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, told Defense Department officials they should not expect "blank checks to be written" for the war effort without a clearer understanding of the administration's objectives and goals beyond Afghanistan.
"We seem to be good at developing entrance strategies, not so good at developing exit strategies," Byrd told Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
Byrd and other Democrats questioned and challenged an expanding anti-terrorism agenda in other nations certain to run up the U.S. defense bill and the federal deficit.
Daschle said on Thursday, "I have said all along, we need to ask the tough questions. There may be support in general for the president's request for defense, but somebody's got to ask tough questions. And no one does a better job of that than Senator Byrd."
"I think there is expansion without at least a clear direction to date," Daschle said. "But we will continue to ask the questions required to better understand that direction."
Daschle, like other Democrats, has backed Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, and again praised these efforts.
But he added, "Whether we continue to succeed depends on whether we get the right answers to the questions Senator Byrd was proposing yesterday."
The Senate majority leader added, "We've got to find Osama bin Laden, and we've got to find other key leaders of the al Qaeda network, or we will have failed."
"I think that it's critical that we keep the pressure on. We do the job that this country is committed to doing," Daschle said. "We're not safe until we have broken the back of al Qaeda. And we haven't done that yet."
Let's roll!!
These nitwits want GWB to give them a date when the war will end- What a joke. Can anyone imagine asking Churchill and Roosevelt the same thing in 1942?
I know the rats are loberal nuts, But Between these rants, Trick Dickie Geppies and Hollings, they all seem to be going over the edge.
His party: The Class Warfare Party (CWP)
"Instead of apologies from the Oval Office, the world gets announcements of new targets. Instead of multilateral blather, there's decisive unilateral American action. In the place of the fog of global conferences, we see the clarity of the Daisy Cutter."
America's First Dictator!
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a failure. Look at Afghanistan today compared to what it was prior to 9/11.
The people are beginning to live normal lives since al Qaeda is not in control.
The people are beginning to live normal lives since al Qaeda is not in control.
And I agree. But daschle, leader of the CWP (Class Warfare Party), is trying to imply that since Bush hasn't found ObL, that OBVIOUSLY he has failed in the War on Terrorism. . .
Oh, i wanna be president! You're not doin' a good job!. . .
Read what President Nixon had to say about the importance of foreign policy and the last Democrat administration -Nixon's Final Words
The stinking little weasel-pipsqueak has started using Bill Clinton's anti-American playbook............
THE DEMOCRAT TRAITOR'S HANDBOOK
This war on terror will fail as long as Liberal Democrats hold an elected office in this Country. You and your political correctness are a big part of this terror and your present shift from patriotism to pro LIBERAL CRAP is the beginning of the next terror attack. Wake up AMERICA!
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