South Carolina Ping
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Posted on 10/23/2006 3:14:21 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Under election-year pressure to change course in Iraq, the Bush administration said Monday there are no plans for dramatic shifts in policy or for ultimatums to Baghdad to force progress.
Just two weeks before the Nov. 7 elections that will determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress, the White House tried to calm political anxieties about deteriorating security in Iraq. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are calling on President Bush to change his war plan.
"We're on the verge of chaos, and the current plan is not working," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an Associated Press interview. U.S. and Iraqi officials should be held accountable for the lack of progress, said Graham, a Republican who is a frequent critic of the administration's policies.
Asked who in particular should be held accountable _ Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, perhaps, or the generals leading the war _ Graham said: "All of them. It's their job to come up with a game plan" to end the violence
Rumsfeld, in remarks at the Pentagon, said U.S. government and military officials were working with Iraq to set broad time frames for when Iraqis can take over 16 provinces that are still under the control of U.S. troops. He said officials were not talking about penalizing the Iraqis if they don't hit certain benchmarks.
The Iraqis have taken control of two southern provinces but have been slow to take the lead in others, particularly those around Baghdad and in the volatile regions north and west of the capital city. Rumsfeld said specific target dates probably will not be set. Instead, he said there might be a broader time frame _ such as a one- to three-month window _ for the Iraqis to take control of certain provinces.
Rumsfeld visited the White House early Monday with Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rumsfeld said the United States was looking at when the Iraqis would move close to setting up a reconciliation process to help quell worsening sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.
Frustration with the war is eroding support in Republican as well as Democratic camps.
Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said two Republicans have told him they will demand a new policy in Iraq after the election. Biden declined to name the GOP lawmakers. He said Republicans have been told not to make waves before the election because it could cost the party seats. Yet some prominent GOP lawmakers have expressed doubts about Bush's policy.
White House press secretary Tony Snow said the United States was continually adjusting its strategy in Iraq.
"In that sense there are new things going on. But are there dramatic shifts in policy? The answer is no," Snow said.
"There is still a very large to-do list before Iraq is in a position to sustain, govern and defend itself," he said.
"Are we issuing ultimatums? No."
He acknowledged, however, that Bush no longer is saying that the United States will "stay the course" in Iraq.
"He stopped using it," Snow said of that phrase, adding that it left the impression that the administration was not adjusting its strategy to realities in Baghdad.
Showing progress in Iraq is critical with the approaching elections, which are widely viewed as a referendum on public support of the war. In Baghdad on Tuesday, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander there, are scheduled to hold a rare joint news conference.
Facing growing impatience with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's failure to stem the carnage, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said international forces must not abandon Iraq while the situation there remains volatile.
"I do believe there is no option for the international community to cut and run," he told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Tony Blair in London. He said Iraqis and the international community need to be realistic, "but not defeatist."
"We need to understand that there is a need of utmost urgency to deal with many of the problems of Iraq but we must not give in to panic," he said.
Well thanks Lindsey for supporting your president. /sarc/
Idiots like Lindsey are more than happy to undermine their president and their party for a little ink in liberal rags. I hope this jackass doesn't have any higher political aspirations.
South Carolina Ping
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"I have already pledged to do all I can to get him destroyed in the primary."
Please let me know who will run against him, in the primary, so I can donate to their campaign.
And he couldn't have waited till the second week in November to grace us with his wise words about Iraq?
Two weeks before the mid term and this turkey is spouting off like Nancy Pelosi's best pal! Frankly I don't care if a Dem beats him, he does more harm than good. The media's favorite "bipartisan" Republican.
DUMP THIS SCHMUCK!!
No their job is to win the war, within the constraints, including resource constraints, imposed by the President, and Congress.
Lindsey PingIs Lindsey married to a woman who doesn't let him speak at home????
You got it :)
Like their heads. Of course they have a lot to gain too, like Burkas for the women, and suicide belts for the younger set.
Being from Sumter, S.C....I have a dog in this fight.
Remember folks, this is an AP article...so Lindsey could have been taken out of context, but for this type of comment to exist in the first place is atrocious...Lindsey has his moments of senility, and his moments of being lucid.
But...it's probably time for him to retire.
Do you feel things in Iraq are under control?
Just out of curiosity, was this sort of thing (trashing the administration in time of war) common before vietnam? I fear we will never win another war due to politics at home.
susie
Haha, I love how the Bushbots take any criticism whatsoever of Bush, however slight, and get in a frenzied rage about it and demand the head of the communist liberal who made it. Freaking hilarious. How about this: if Bush is serious about the War on Terror, why didn't he attack Iran? And why isn't he "staying the course"?
South Carolina Freepers can't you get him to shut the hell up?
This clown Graham looks just like that light in the loafers Clay Aiken of American Idol. I actually think they suffer from the same affliction, but at least Aiken can sing.
Can these "McCain Gang of Seven" RINO's not shut their mouth for a few more weeks. They are worse than Carter or Clinton at times.
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