Bush's Iraq Plan Draws Fire From Senate Republicans

[swag]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1rpOvfM6hK8&refer=home

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's plan to boost U.S. forces in Iraq drew fire from Republican senators and from Joseph Biden, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who called it ``a tragic mistake.''

The plan is ``the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam,'' Senator Chuck Hagel, a Republican of Nebraska, told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a hearing of the committee today.

The debate, which centered on whether the U.S. was plunging itself into a civil war, reflected the political difficulties Bush faces in selling the strategy to the Congress and the American public.

Rice defended Bush's plan to deploy 21,500 more soldiers and Marines to Baghdad and Anbar province to the west in an attempt to defeat insurgents and end violence among Sunnis and Shiites. Biden said the troops were being sent into ``the midst of a civil war.''

. . .

[RedEarth]

1. Great, slam that morons 'augmentation' plan

[laststeamtrain]

2. AP: good pics; lotsa grim looks

WASHINGTON - President Bush's decision to send 21,500 more combat troops to Iraq drew heavy fire from both Democrats and some Republicans on Thursday despite a plea by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a "national imperative not to fail."

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/iraq

[shain from kane]

3. "...whether the U.S. was plunging itself into a civil war" A civil war with PNAC and neo-cons, if

this continues. Of course, some of them have scurried and abandoned ship.

[Heidi]

4. Kick.

:kick:

[RamboLiberal]

5. Hagel: Bush speech worst blunder since Vietnam

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/01/11/news/latest_news/05951fb9f92321ad862572600060f7fa.txt

U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel offered Thursday what might have been the harshest criticism to date of President Bush's plan to commit more troops to Iraq, calling the president's Wednesday night speech "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder carried out since Vietnam."

Hagel's comment drew applause in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in which members questioned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the plan to commit 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

The commotion prompted Committee Chairman, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., to call for order.

The remarks by Hagel, a Republican, followed his scathing rebuke Wednesday night of the Iraq plan. He called it a "dangerously wrongheaded strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at great cost."

[TomInTib]

6. Hagel is creating some kind of buzz where I live

I am in one of the most liberal and (tho this will not go over well, here) wealthy towns in the US.

A lot of folks here are pretty high on Hagel.

[lovuian]

7. Hagel knows the Powers to be want War

and AMERICA DOESN"T

We are being pushed into something the American people don't support

Nobody Wins
Hagel knows its a freakin disaster

[truthisfreedom]

8. Kick ass! We need more repubans speaking up!

[UrbScotty]

13. And Dems too! (nt)

[niceypoo]

9. Well, even a republican can see that attacking Iran as a way to fix iraq...

...is a tad on the irrational side.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

10. Hegel tonight on Charlie Rose.

Pretty convincing argument - real courageous for a fucking Republican. I will give this conniving slimeball some props for admitting a certain amount of his own hubris and stupidity.

"Far more dangerous than Vietnam. We're isolating ourselves... look what's happening today, the British and Italians are pulling out..." (paraphrase)

[texpatriot2004]

11. Agreed! nt

[depakid]

12. If the Dems aren't on the ball, Republicans will coopt the issue

One thing you have to give them credit for- they're adept at that....

[pa28]

14. No wonder Bush is crying.

Top leaders from his own party are now publicly acknowledging the scope of his errors.

He's isolated in the White House. Alone, discredited, bitter and probably talking to the portraits on the walls through an empty bottle of Johnny Walker.

Please, somebody, get the football away from this guy and talk him into resigning before he can do any more damage.

[indepat]

15. Desperate men often do desperate things: will W be allowed to take this nation down the

toilet by continuing to acquiesce to his delusional dictatorial demands or will the Congress step up and exercise its constitutional authorities and prerogatives to stop the madness by whatever means are at its disposal? :shrug: