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Posted on 12/12/2006 1:04:15 PM PST by Sopater
En garde, Sen. Gordon Smith! White House press secretary Tony Snow may challenge you to a duel.
Responding to a charge by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., that the U.S. handling of the war in Iraq has been "criminal" and "absurd," Snow told reporters that it was the killing of U.S. soldiers, not the conduct of the war itself, that was "immoral," according to Editor & Publisher.
Asked by a reporter during a White House press briefing if he was just going to "blow it off" in dealing with Smith's charge that the president's policy may be criminal and immoral, by simply saying we just disagree, Snow asked "And what would you like me to say?
"Should I do duels at 10 paces?"
Here, according to E&P is how it went:
Reporter: Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, last week, said, "Our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day, it's absurd. It may even be criminal," and that he can no longer support this. What is your reaction to a Republican senator saying that what's going on right now in Iraq is criminal?
Snow: Well, we dispute the "criminal" part, obviously, and at the same time, understand the senator's concern.
We share the concern about not doing well enough fast enough. But do not assume that people are simply being blown up. They are on missions. And as General Corelli said last week, "There's not an engagement our people have lost, but it is still important to continue the work of building greater capability and capacity on the part of the Iraqi government and helping them out."
People on both sides are going to have disagreements, much as Joe Lieberman, formerly a Democrat, apparently run out of his party for disagreeing with what was seen as orthodoxy at that time . . .
Reporter: Republican Sen. Smith is challenging the strategy. What he basically said yesterday, as well, was, when you do the same thing over and over again without a clear strategy for victory, that is dereliction, that is deeply immoral. Such is the dispute. He's saying what the president is doing is immoral.
Snow: Well, then we disagree.
Reporter: You're just going to blow it off? A Republican senator is saying the president's policy may be criminal and it's immoral, and you're just saying, we just disagree?
Snow: And what would you like me to say? Should I do duels at 10 paces?
Reporter: Don't you think you should answer for that? You're saying — you've said from this podium over and over that the strategy is a victory, right? And you have a Republican senator is saying there is no clear strategy, that you don't have a strategy.
Snow: Well, let's let Sen. Smith hear what the president has to say. We understand that this is a time where politics are emotional in the wake of an election. And you know what? Sen. Smith is entitled to his opinion. But I'm not sure exactly what you would like —
Reporter: Well, how about answering the central thrust about the strategy, not about, like, politics —
Snow: OK, the strategy is pretty simple. If you take a look, for instance — if you take a look at the Baker-Hamilton commission report, what do they talk about?
They talk about building greater capability on the part of the Iraqis so that you can have an Iraqi government that governs itself, sustains itself, defends itself, who's ally in the war on terror is a democracy.
I don't think it's immoral to be a democracy. I don't think it's immoral to have a state that is able to stand up and defend itself against acts of terror. I don't think it's immoral to defend the Iraqi people against acts of terrorism aimed at Muslims.
Reporter: The senator is not saying that's immoral. He's saying that the U.S. — he's saying, of course democracy is a great goal . . .
Snow: You know what, Ed? Ed, I'll tell you what. You're engaging in an argument and you're trying to fill in the gaps . . .
Reporter: It's not an argument. It's a Republican senator saying it, not me. It's a Republican senator saying it, and he's not . . . Are you saying Republican Sen. Smith is not in favor of democracy?
Snow: Well, I don't know. You just said he said it's immoral; when I listed the elements of the policy, you said that's not what he was talking about. So please tell me what he was talking about.
Reporter: He's saying that day after day, U.S. soldiers are . . . caught up in the middle of a civil war — not about the government there —
Snow: OK, here's what's immoral: the killing of American soldiers. We agree.
Only Smarter.
Tony Snow for President! To borrow a line from Kinky Friedman, Why the Hell Not?
If Bush had asked Tony to be his Press Secretary after Ari left, he wouldn't have half the problems he does.
Tony would have shown Joe Wilson to be the lying arrogant fool he is and destroyed the never ending Valerie Plame garbage.
Then, again, maybe they're too dumb to realize even that.
Smith may switch parties -- the Dems are going to throw everything they have at him in 2008 otherwise. Smith and Collins of Maine are both being heavily courted. Given that the Dems are unlikely to lose seats and will probably gain a bunch, there's got to be an incentive.
I agree that McClellan was miserable, but I don't buy that he wouldn't be having problems. Unless Snow could have defeated the Iraq insurgency, Bush would still be in the same mess he's in now.
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Isn't Smith something of a "right-winger" by OR standards, considering how totally left is that state. I do know that OR is one of a few states where the two U.S. senators once ran against each other. SD is another. What else?
Smith comes up again in 2010. By that time, no one will remember his inane outburst. Republicans will back him jut to "save the seat" as they do with Snowe and Collins in ME.
Smith comes up in 2008, not 2010, my error.
Yes, and I just emailed him this excerpt along with a piece of my mind. I'm live in his "hometown" and I will not be voting for him again.
I'm no longer interested in trying to gain or hold onto Republican "power" if it means I have to support RINO morons like this one.
I wish we could sever OR and WA in half and reform as two states vertically instead of horizontally. Freaking libs on the I-5 corridor have us hostage to their urban stupidity.
Is the Mrs. Smith Pies Co. owned by Gordon Smith's family?
You're not serious?
You sound not unlike Banastre Tarleton.
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