Posted on 06/12/2005 4:23:19 PM PDT by Graybeard58
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A Republican congressman who voted for the Iraq war said Sunday that "we've done about as much as we can do'' in the country and that the reason for invading Iraq has proven false.
Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina will be among the lawmakers introducing legislation this week calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops in Iraq.
"When I look at the number of men and women who have been killed -- it's almost 1,700 now, in addition to close to 12,000 have been severely wounded -- and I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there,'' Jones said on ABC's "This Week.''
President Bush has said any timetable for withdrawal would encourage insurgents to wait for the foreign troops to leave, but Jones said he believed Iraqis can defend their own country.
His stance leaves Jones sided with Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, the most prominent Democrat calling for a timetable to leave Iraq. Jones said he had not discussed the issue with Kennedy.
Two years ago, Jones helped lead an effort to make sure Capitol Hill cafeterias retooled their menus to advertise "freedom fries'' instead of french fries to protest France's opposition to the war.
Jones said he began changing his mind about the war after attending the funeral in April 2003 for Sgt. Michael Bitz, 31, who was killed in the southern city of Nasiriyah. He recalled that Bitz's widow read the last letter she received from her husband.
"And that really has been on my mind and my heart ever since,'' he said.
Jones, whose district includes Camp Lejeune and Cherry Point, has written condolence letters to the families of more than 1,300 service people killed in Iraq, and posters outside his congressional office show the faces of those killed.
Things like this really embolden they fundamentalist muslims overseas who use information like this to claim that Islam is winning.
Of course many of the so called moderates in places like Indonesia who up until now have been sitting on the fence are inclined to join the ranks of the fundamentalists.
already posted
I'll never understand why people want to cave when we are winning. Thank God these people weren't in Congress in 1944.
Republican? Sheesh. How do these guys even get themselves elected? This one isn't smart enough to come in out of the rain, let alone govern.
If they had been in Congress in 1944, could they have imagined that U.S. troops would still be in Germany 61 years later?
Telegraphing our moves? Absurd!
Where?
It's a bad case of trentlottism. One side effect is a dramatic decrease of strength in the spine.
WHEN WE WIN!
FREEP this congressman and tell him what you think
There is a timetable, based on results not a absolute date, i.e., establishment of permanent constitution and government and standing up fully the Iraqi armed forces. Unlike in Vietnam, we are not going to cut and run before the job is finished.
I guaranty you that we've got a timetable. Only an idiot would make it public. Does it surprise you that we've got idiots in Congress?
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...BUSH is bringing Freedom to the oppressed peoples and cultures of the world...
...as our own best self-protection against future terrorist attacks here at home.
...The CLARITY of this Deal still stands.
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I've often wondered if the Dems haven't been infiltrating the Republican Party with "moderates" who are Dems running as Republicans.
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