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...
that would be nice to have. you can’t do anything about it without knowing who the squimish are first.
I don’t want to talk to terrorists, I want to hunt and kill terrorists... that isn’t what we’re doing in Iraq. Like others have said on this forum, we ought to be more worried about Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Our priorities are in the wrong place.
You have Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran with powerful weapons and radical groups.... Hezbollah is building a base in South America... and you're worried about Shiites and Sunnis feuding in Iraq? - like they have been doing for thousands of years? - we have much bigger problems.
China is the big sleeping dragon, and is going to make rag-tag terrorists look like ants if we don't wake up.
“Those with selective memory seem to forget that, but I don’t.’
Hmmmm. establishing a democracy in the middle east....i don’t remember that as being on the high goals for going in, but, then again, what other form of govt would Bush promote after taking out the leadership.
Seems to me, the presidential media machine was WMD, Axis of Evil, rape rooms, and mass graves. Mullah Abdullah’s wife having the right to representative democracy wasn’t high on the totem. But I may be wrong. No doubt the purple finger photos were powerful and our soldiers can always be proud of that. But, come on, we’ve been there going on four years, let the iraqis take more control, and sooner, rather than later. And I’m not wrong on this, why the hell is Cheney over there saying “Game time.” I don’t make this up, the sense of urgency has now become apparent. So 10% of the people can still buy and support the presidential line of “we don’t know how long its going to take” but that rational is getting thin. You are starting to see it in your military with your junior officer corps, and in “re” enlistments, and starting to see the cracks with the moderate to lib repubs.
for what its worth.
What else does anyone often expect from “big tent Republicanism”? Make the Republican Party just a conservative political party, and get rid of the idea of a “big tent” forever!
Hmmm... what happened to all the "Republican leaders" in Illinois who told us last year "Look, I don't agree with Mark Kirk's views on domestic issues either [translation: Kirk is a rabid gun grabbing, gay loving, pro-abortion on demand nut] but we HAVE to support Kirk because he will stand with the President on the WOT, and a Democrat won't"
The Mark Kirk apologists have been awfully quiet lately.
But if you declare the Constitution void by nullifying an election, the nation is already lost.
How far out should we project that? Technically, any nation that is not the United States could potentially destroy us somewhere down the road. Should we just pre-emptively take over the world? Are you ready to pre-emptively strike China? I mean, they've GOT the ICBM's that can hit L.A., Chicago, NY...
It's a bad example. The Soviets were wonderful purveyors of pre-emptive war. Their history of being trampled on by the French and the Germans and the Chinese was the rationale behind invading the satellite states. Those were survival tactics without any lines drawn. Where do we draw ours? If you want to be perfectly protected from our enemies, you're going to have to find another solar system. But taking the war in Iraq and calling it a war for the survival of our nation is a fact not in evidence by any stretch - especially since the greater, more obvious threats are being ignored for political purposes.
If I didn't know better, you sound like an a angry liberal.
Nobody wants to win this more than the soldiers do. I have had two of my kids there. And if called to return, they would do so with honor and determination with my full support.
It is true the liberal press are trying to achieve defeat in Iraq.
I will say what I said before, I hope the meeting was positive for all who attended.
I agree, Bill. Since I live in Kirk’s district, I know several conservatives who only voted for Kirk because they agreed with him about the war in Iraq. I haven’t voted for him because he’s at least as liberal as all of the Democrats he defeated. In Feb., I e-mailed a few conservative Kirk voters and asked whether they regret voting for him. One of them responded and said yes.
“The Mark Kirk apologists have been awfully quiet lately.”
We know Kirk’s an almost completely useless RINO, but have you seen the latest on this guy ?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1831092/posts
This fella’s apologists have been deafeningly quiet on this thread. ;-)
The Saudis are NOT our friends. We are their hired body guards. It is a temporary marriage of convenience ONLY. The Saudi Royals control of Mecca and Medina is made possible by the Wahabbi sect of Sunni Islam. In return the Saudis have been financing Radical Islamic schools all over the world. Only Dubya is smart enough to think they are our friends.
Sadly my rear. W stands his ground while Jeb couldn’t even stand up for a handicapped woman.
Saudi Arabia has been as close to a friend as we will ever get from a Muslim nation, and the rulers of SA cannot stop radicals by themselves.
If you want to deny that, fine. The President, I’m sure, takes their friendship with a grain of salt, but I stand by them being an ally in the WOT.
GWB might be your Jimmy Carter, but no thinking conservative could ever agree. I believe you are just blaming him for our nation’s shortcomings.
We are in a war for the soul of mankind while you think it’s only a political football.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.