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Reid: Bush must learn to compromise on Iraq
LAS VEGAS SUN ^
| April 05, 2007
| AP
Posted on 04/05/2007 5:42:33 PM PDT by mdittmar
RENO, Nev. (AP) - President Bush would be to blame, not the Democrat-controlled Congress, if he vetoes a supplemental spending bill for U.S. troops because he has rejected repeated invitations to discuss a compromise, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.
"I'm a legislator, I know how to compromise. He doesn't. That's what he's got to learn," Reid, D-Nev., told The Associated Press.
"Compromise is not a bad word. I think it's been real hard for him to understand he can't do what he did before we had a new Congress in town," Reid said. "He's going to have to learn to deal with it."
Reid made the remarks after he met with a mixed reception at a veterans hospital where he took his plea for troop withdrawals by next fall and called the war in Iraq the "worst foreign policy blunder" in U.S. history.
"The training wheels have to come off and Iraq has got to police it's own civil war. We should not be policing a civil war," Reid told about 80 veterans, doctors and others at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Reno.
"People say if we leave Iraq it's going to be chaos," he said. "It's chaos right now. So whenever we leave, whether it is six days from now or six months from now - we know we'll be out of there in 20 months because that is when Bush is out of office - it is going to be chaos."
Two of the half-dozen or more skeptics in the audience offered pointed criticism of Reid, including one who said the senator's "irresponsible statements" are undermining U.S. troops.
"You are using this as a political football. It's not acceptable," said John Edwards, a veteran and member of a local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, whose national organization has called for Congress to approve funding for the Iraq war without what it called "an arbitrary withdrawal timeline."
Reid said he agrees the nation must make sure U.S. troops have "not died in vain in Iraq."
"Conversely, we have to tell it how it is. We can't paint a picture that doesn't exist," he said.
"Before we invaded, there was not a single terrorist in Iraq. I recognize Saddam Hussein was an evil man and I'm glad he's gone. But invading Iraq did not help the situation. It made it worse."
Reid said earlier he will propose legislation to cut off funds for combat operations, and provide money for only three missions: targeted counterterrorism operations, training and equipping the Iraqi security forces, and to provide security for U.S. personnel and infrastructure.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized the strategy Wednesday, saying such limits could pull troops from Baghdad neighborhoods, which have been the focus of the latest military buildup in Iraq.
"One real possibility is, if we abandon some of these areas and withdraw into the countryside or whatever to do these targeted missions, that you could have a fairly significant ethnic cleansing inside Baghdad or in Iraq more broadly," Gates said.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is among those who argue Congress has no business "micromanaging this war."
"Our troops are in Iraq fighting an enemy that wants to destroy our way of life, and setting a date for withdrawal would undermine our commanders," he said last week. "Victory is our only option."
Reid spoke and answered questions for about an hour and toured the VA facility.
"I say let's get out of there. Let's understand this war can only be won politically, diplomatically and economically."
Reid said Democrats continue to try to work with the president to avoid a second veto he has promised if another version of a supplemental spending bill has a timetable for withdrawing troops.
"If he does that, he's cutting off the funds to troops. We're not cutting off the funds to troops," Reid said.
"The president is a partner with us on what we do in Iraq whether he wants to be or not. We need to work with him and he needs to work with us."
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: appeasement; dhimmicrats; iraq; islamophiles; islamophilia; wot
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To: Txsleuth
61
posted on
04/05/2007 6:48:38 PM PDT
by
txradioguy
(In Memory Of My Friend 1SG Tim Millsap A Co. 70th Engineer Bn. K.I.A. 25 Apr. 2005)
To: bnelson44
The guys are doing a great job!
Love the new demographic section!
62
posted on
04/05/2007 6:50:00 PM PDT
by
Just A Nobody
(PISSANT for President '08 - NEVER AGAIN...Support our Troops! Beware the ENEMEDIA)
To: mdittmar
The arrogance of this pompous ass, (Reid) is only exceeded by his deceit.
63
posted on
04/05/2007 6:53:47 PM PDT
by
F.J. Mitchell
(A certifiable fruitcake third in line of Presidential succession. This is nuts!)
To: mdittmar
says you, you little sh!t...!!!
64
posted on
04/05/2007 6:59:05 PM PDT
by
Chode
(American Hedonist)
To: ohioWfan
65
posted on
04/05/2007 7:01:22 PM PDT
by
Holicheese
(I love shrimp and grits.)
To: Holicheese
LOL! Thanks. I AM going to try it.
66
posted on
04/05/2007 7:03:40 PM PDT
by
ohioWfan
(PRAY for our President and our troops. NOW more than ever!!.)
To: DustyMoment
The arrogance of the Congressional Democrats is breath taking. Would they have said the same thing to FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Jimmuh Cahteh, or Bubba BJ??? This is arrogant, disgraceful, disgusting behavior at its core!!!!
I have a different opinion. I think it's arrogant disgraceful behavior for President Bush to tell us we need to eliminate Saddam and verify there were no WMDs in Iraq, then bait and switch the American public into telling us we can't leave until the mission is accomplished, and to those who feel otherwise, they are cut and run defeatists. I agree we should have gotten rid of Saddam and hunted down WMDs, but what is now "the mission"? To stand between two waring tribes of Savages and take bullets until they decide on democracy? And what kind of democracy will we get if we get that far? Their punk President Malikee told the Washington press he was on the Hesbollah side while they were raining rockets down on Israeli civilians. It makes me remember out a German democracy came Hitler. We are spending hundreds of billions for this? ? The whitehouse.org has a nice powerpoint presentation of why we are in Iraq, and I find the presentation filled with lies and half-truths.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/iraq/2007/iraq-strategy011007.pdf
The presentation talks about our "allies" in the area. Allies? Like the Turks who refused to let us attack from the North? Like the Saudis who fund world wide terrorism and fund school books that call jews and gentiles pigs and monkeys? Also I thought an ally was one who went to war with you. I know it would be unacceptable for Israel to be with us though I think the would if asked, but are our allies in the region when we are taking bullets in Iraq? They are absent, therefore the line about "allies" I find to be disingenuous. And when he says we are fighting them there so don't have to fight them here, does anybody think if we leave Iraq that Higgins boats with crescents and stars stenciled on the side are going to land on Myrtle Beach?
I now believe that when President Bush's lips are moving he is lying.
67
posted on
04/05/2007 7:05:10 PM PDT
by
jackieaxe
(Unsourced reporting is not reporting but a lie or a manipulation)
To: Txsleuth
I just watched Alan Colmes just get all gooey about how nice the Iranians were for letting the Brits go....blech Peace, love, no war, hug a terrorist
68
posted on
04/05/2007 7:10:18 PM PDT
by
Mo1
( http://www.gohunter08.com)
To: Mo1
Bush is a so much better legislator than Reid is. All Reod knows is obstruction. Bush has gotten his agenda enacted into law.
69
posted on
04/05/2007 7:13:32 PM PDT
by
ClaireSolt
(Have you have gotten mixed up in a mish-masher?)
To: mdittmar
How’s this for compromise, give Bush what he needs to win and then we get out.
70
posted on
04/05/2007 7:16:26 PM PDT
by
depressed in 06
(Bolshecrat, the despicable party of what if and whine.)
To: mdittmar
Reid sounded really stupid talking about this while he was on recess holding a bill.
71
posted on
04/05/2007 7:17:47 PM PDT
by
armymarinemom
(My sons freed Iraqi and Afghan Honor Roll students.)
To: mdittmar
72
posted on
04/05/2007 7:19:14 PM PDT
by
LibLieSlayer
(Preserve America... kill terrorists... destroy dims!)
To: mdittmar
Hey Harry, “Compromise This!”
73
posted on
04/05/2007 7:21:26 PM PDT
by
dfwgator
(The University of Florida - Still Championship U)
To: mdittmar
That is sick and illogical.
74
posted on
04/05/2007 7:21:38 PM PDT
by
yldstrk
(My heros have always been cowboys--Reagan and Bush)
To: mdittmar
“Compromise is not a bad word.”
Mr. Reid, what about compromising our honor, integrity, & the safety of the free world? Seems you will compromise anything to keep power.
Disgusting!
75
posted on
04/05/2007 7:27:23 PM PDT
by
Mister Da
(The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
To: jackieaxe
I now believe that when President Bush's lips are moving he is lying.DU really misses you.
Buh-bye!!!
76
posted on
04/05/2007 7:27:42 PM PDT
by
DustyMoment
(FloriDUH - proud inventors of pregnant/hanging chads and judicide!!)
To: DustyMoment
whay a real jackieaxe that guy is... it is sad that he believes what he has written...
the mission in iraq changed from the un mission accomplished to a theater of the war on terror when al qaeda moved in... i’m down with it, too bad people like this guy just don’t get it.
teeman
77
posted on
04/05/2007 7:47:29 PM PDT
by
teeman8r
( (optional, printed after your name on post):)
To: mdittmar
So if your so good at compromising Reid, give up on the drop deadline.
Pray for W and Our Troops
78
posted on
04/05/2007 7:49:01 PM PDT
by
bray
(The Surge is Working against both enemies of America)
To: mdittmar
To: DustyMoment
DU really misses you.
I am not a DUmmy. I am a libertarian who believes in a strong, but constitutionally limited government. I voted for Bush, will vote for Ron Paul and will settle for Mitt Romney in the end. George Bush has disappointed me terribly. He consistently sends a budget that grow 2-3 times inflation to Congress as his going in position and Congress will add even more. W's foreign policy has been terrible. He refuses to confront the Saudi problem and has allowed in 20,000 Saudis on student visas; just like the 911 hijackers. He refuses to defend the border and refuses to pardon the 2 border patrol agents who defend our border. I don't think I'd be anymore welcome at the DU than I am here. It's been said its good to entertain different positions, if for nothing else than to avoid a group think party. I wish I was playing devils advocate, but I've reviewed the facts and you have my point of view.
80
posted on
04/05/2007 8:07:15 PM PDT
by
jackieaxe
(Unsourced reporting is not reporting but a lie or a manipulation)
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