Posted on 05/09/2007 5:55:32 PM PDT by kellynla
TIM RUSSERT, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS: Brian, all eyes on the Republican party. How long will they support the president's position on the Iraq War? Yesterday may have been a defining, pivotal moment.
At two-thirty in the afternoon, in the private quarters of the White House, the Solarium Room, eleven Republican congressmen had a private meeting with the president, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, the chief political advisor Karl Rove, and the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, and others.
This delegation was headed by Mark Kirk of Illinois and Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania. It was, in the words of one of the participants, the most unvarnished conversation they've ever had with the president.
Another member has said he has met with three presidents and never been so candid. They told the president, and one said, quote, "My district is prepared for defeat. We need candor, we need honesty, Mr. President."
The president responded, "I don't want to pass this off to another president. I don't want to pass this off, particularly, to a democratic president," underscoring he understood how serious the situation was.
Brian, the Republican congressmen went on to say, "The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There's no longer any credibility. It has to come from General Petraeus.
The meeting lasted an hour and fifteen minutes, and was, in the words of one, " remarkable for the bluntness, and no holds barred honesty and the message delivered by all these Republican congressmen.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: And Tim...how did the president react and how did this then affect the instructions for VP Cheney heading off to Iraq?
RUSSERT: One congressman said, "How can our daughters and sons spill their blood while the Iraqi parliament goes on vacation? The president responded, "The Vice President is over there to tell them, 'Do not go on vacation.'"
Developing...
In the report:
One congressman said, “How can our sons and daughters spill their blood while the Iraqi government goes on vacation?”
My response:
They’re our men and women, you *ssholes didn’t think about that when YOU went on vacation and still haven’t given them what they need.
Now I have to go back and look for their complaints on that... after I call the two congressmen’s office to inquire what really went on.
Some private meeting.
That explains it.
Amen.
The Iraqis need to follow the example of Turkey in the 1920's. One of the things that President Ataturk did was to exile the major troublemakers from Turkey to Malta, for several years each until a stable government had been devised.
al Sadr and many others should have been expelled from Iraq years ago.
Thanks, Bremer. Thanks, Rummie.
Success is getting rid of the major troublemakers (e.g. al Sadr); prohibiting anything resembling sharia law; and extreme and public punishment of anyone seen to be opposing the government.
These will be the "face of the Republican "party the MSM will choose for the American people to see. grrrr
If they cannot lead, then they will no longer be congressmen.
Outing the president is not the way to protect and serve our nation. Succumbing to propaganda of the MSM is not the way to serve.
They must fight, or perish as politicians.
I will say it as I have said it dozens of times before.
The US has won the war in Iraq.
The US is winning the war in Iraq.
President Bush has done an outstanding job as President.
In the complete absence of evidence, so called conservatives and liberals back stab the President at war.
This is being done because of success— not despite it.
The war is not in Iraq. It is here at home.
People across the political spectrum are engaged in a massive propaganda ploy to undermine the President. This liberal conservative axis of power has no regard for the soldiers it kills.
The only question is power.
The immigration hacks were embarrassed by Republicans in the 90s. Dems have been humiliated by Bush since 2000. This is payback. This is purely politics and involves killing our troops.
Vietnam laid down perfectly clear markers on this matter and so to feign ignorance on these questions no longer cuts it.
If we have lost, go join Al Qaeda so you can be with the winners.
I noticed the top 2 are from my state...I would add Tom Cole to the bottom list.
That is how we start, by electing REAL conservatives from our home states. I get tired of detractors on FR b!tching about Bush, when the same folks send RINOs to DC who stab him in the back and undermine our efforts in WOT.
My advice to them:
Clean up your own backyard before you start whining about Bush!
“My district is prepared for defeat. We need candor, we need honesty, Mr. President.”
These are the words of a GOP congressman. What a disgrace. They seem to forget WE WERE ATTACKED ON 9-11!! If this country were united we would have won this war by now. To hell with the spineless politicians.
I heard about this and it sure pissed me off.
I Hate RINOs.
A list of every Republican traitor at this meeting should be posted frequently, particularly around the time each of them is up for re-election. We should never forget.
Typical, no party unity among the republicans.
Dent is supporting Rudy for president. Dent is pro gay rights and pro-abortion, but one redeeming quality is that he is only one of two Pennsylvania House members not supported by the National Education Association.
Dent replaced Pat Toomey in Congress when he ran against Specter.
DEFEAT!! That’s ALL the left knows!!
So is this saying that normally, these congressman lie and hide the truth when they talk to the President? I don't understand. If I could meet with the President, and he asked how I felt, I'd sure tell him exactly what I was thinking.
And these people are elected representatives, and they seem to be saying that they've been too scared to speak their mind up until now?
This is as bad as Dick Durbin blaming "rules" for not being able to tell the American people that we were being "lied" into war.
I have another lead for this article though, that is more accurate:
Today, 11 members of the republican party held a meeting with the President. Afterward, they leaked to their allies in Iraq that they only have to increase the violence and stay viable through September, after which the United States Congress will be ready to surrender the country.
Al Qaeda in Iraq released a statement a brief time later, thanking these brave men for their service, and calling on it's own members, and insurgents throughout Iraq, to take heart, redouble their efforts, and see their task through the summer. "The end is near, Praise Be to Allah. Our Enemies have announced the day of their retreat, as God foretold. Now we must inflict more pain and suffering on the infidel, confident that each blow, rather than bringing wrath upon us, just moves our Enemy, the great Satan America, closer to humiliation and Defeat".
My Congressman was part of this. He will be my former congressman if I have anything to do with it. The blood of the troops is on his hands.
You’re not wrong. We’re knee deep in Democrat operatives, and have been for a long time.
Read the posts, the buzzwords are all over the place. Reciting Democrat talking points should be cause for immediate and permanent banning. These people are actively campaigning for a jihadist victory.
I agree with you. I wish I didn't, but I do. But even if things change for the better in Iraq (and there are compelling stories to indicate this is happening now), the Bush administration has to get this news out to the general public, by going over the head of the mainstream media, like Reagan did. Bush has not used the bully pulpit anywhere near as effectively as he could.
Perception is everything. And if the American public doesn't believe things are getting better in Iraq, there will be a Democrat in the White House in 2009.
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