Posted on 02/08/2007 9:57:47 AM PST by presidio9
Lee Hamilton revealed Monday in Washington that some members of the Iraq Study Group nearly came to blows over the direction of the war. The former congressman also told the council and the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, of which he is president, that discussions of how to resolve the situation in Iraq became so contentious, he had his doubts they would ever agree enough to make their report to Congress. Hamilton co-chaired the study group with James Baker 3rd.
"Lee said, 'There were almost fistfights. It happened several times,'" revealed our source. "He said some meetings lasted as late as 3:30 a.m., and that as he'd be driving home, he wondered if they'd ever reach a resolution."
Hamilton didn't say which of the 10 members, including Sandra Day O'Connor and Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Lawrence Eagleburger, Edwin Meese 3rd, Leon Panetta, William Perry, Charles Robb and Alan Simpson, nearly swung a punch.
But Hamilton did say that the most divisive issue for the bipartisan conclave was whether to include Iran and Syria in a diplomatic coalition of countries surrounding Iraq. "Baker and Hamilton felt that because they [the countries] were part of the problem. they had to be part of the solution," said the source.
"The problem," said the source, "is who do you talk to? The ayatollahs? The young secular revolutionaries? The president, who may not be there in three months?"
I would have paid to see that!..........My guess Robb and Eagleburger......
But I suspect they were fighting over who got to stand in the front row for the group photo. ;)
Everyone forgot to check their egos at the door.
What credibility do they have on how we should proceed about the WOT?
I might say the same if Baker or Hamilton had come forward with this when the report was published. Hearing it now is water over the deck as far as electoral perception is concerned. The damage was done in November, and you can't undo it now.
The worthless effort - Iraq Study Group - would have benefitted from some physical "resolution". The effort again proves, as with the 9/11 Commission, that there is no such thing as bipartisn anything in Washington. One cannot compromise with liberalsim.
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