Posted on 06/18/2005 10:07:10 PM PDT by Sir Valentino
Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. He's upset about the more than 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Iraq. He's also aggravated by the continued string of sunny assessments from the Bush administration, such as Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes." "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."
That's strikingly blunt talk from a member of the president's party, even one cast as something of a pariah in the GOP because of his early skepticism about the war. "I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican," he says. Today, he notes, things are changing: "More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned."
Indeed, there are signs that the politics of the Iraq war are being reshaped by the continuing tide of bad news. Take this month in Iraq, with 47 U.S. troops killed in the first 15 days. That's already five more than the toll for the entire month of June last year. With the rate of insurgent attacks near an all-time high and the war's cost set to top $230 billion, more politicians on both sides of the aisle are responding to opinion polls that show a growing number of Americans favoring a withdrawal from Iraq. Republican Sens. Lincoln Chafee and Lindsey Graham have voiced their concerns. And two Republicans, including the congressman who brought "freedom fries" to the Capitol, even joined a pair of Democratic colleagues in sponsoring a bill calling for a troop withdrawal plan to be drawn up by year's end. "I feel confident that the opposition is going to build," says Rep. Ron Paul, the other Republican sponsor and a longtime opponent of the war.
Sagging polls. The measure is not likely to go anywhere, but Hagel calls it "a major crack in the dike." Whether or not that's so, the White House has reason to worry that the assortment of critiques of Bush's wartime performance may be approaching a tipping point. Only 41 percent of Americans now support Bush's handling of the Iraq war, the lowest mark ever in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll. And the Iraq news has combined with a lethargic economy and doubts about the president's Social Security proposals to push Bush's overall approval ratings near all-time lows. For now, most Republicans remain publicly loyal to the White House. "Why would you give your enemies a timetable?" asks House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. "[Bush] doesn't fight the war on news articles or television or on polls."
Still, the Bush administration is planning to hit back, starting this week, with a renewed public-relations push by the president. Bush will host Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari and has scheduled a major speech for June 28, the anniversary of the handover of power to an Iraqi government from U.S. authorities. But Congress's patience could wear very thin going into an election year. "If things don't start to turn around in six months, then it may be too late," says Hagel. "I think it's that serious."
Bush's exit strategy--which depends on a successful Iraqi political process--got a boost last week when Sunni and Shiite politicians ended weeks of wrangling over how to increase Sunni representation on the constitution-writing committee. Now, however, committee members have less than two months before their mid-August deadline. And given how long it took to resolve who gets to draft the document, it's hard to imagine a quick accord on the politically explosive issues they face.
Sounds as if he didn't learn anything from the first beating.
Well at least he made fun of Hillary's ass.
In WW 2, we took the heaviest casulaties the last two years of the war, '44 and '45. We advanced and won during those years.
In Vietnam, '73 and '74 were the lowest years for our casualties - years when we retreated and then lost.
Hagel is a German boot licker!
I didn't see Bubba's name mentioned.
in the end they are politicians. The war is about political will. It is a test of strength. The Viet Cong and Al-Queda dont need to worry about bad press or electoral rivals. Let us hope that the bombings dont grind down more politicians to submission
The Rats sacrificed our Nam vets for political gain, now they want to do the same with out Iraq vets. Let's hope they don't get away with it this time.
ROTFLOL That's really bad! (Thanks ;)
There are about 3,200 American motorcycle accident deaths per year. This is far more than American war deaths, and far easier to fix.
Hagelamaniac
That's Hillaryous.
To say that we are LOSING the WAR is beyond belief. To think that it has been a little over two years since Baghdad fell and to see how far the democratic process in IRAQ has come, I can ONLY say it is an astonishing accomplishment.
Spoken like a democrat, and Hagel has presdential aspirations...lol.
"Sounds as if he didn't learn anything from the first beating."
ROTF, Wait till Monday morning when the phones start ringing and the email start coming. Bet pages will be flying off the fax machine like a ticker tape parade.
I wonder if it's possible to blow up a fax machine...
Hagel isn't really a Republican.
How many College Students OD every year?
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