" 'Stay the course' is NOT a policy." - Sen. Hagel (R)

[Bluebear]

A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts and other military honors for his service in Vietnam,
(we interrupt this post for a word from a Republican delegate


reiterated his position that the United States needs to develop a strategy to leave Iraq.

Hagel scoffed at the idea that U.S. troops could be in Iraq four years from now at levels above 100,000, a contingency for which the Pentagon is preparing. "We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."

Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050821/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq_5&printer=1

[journalist3072]

1. Sounds like Hagel is running for Prez in 2008! eom

[Telly Savalas]

25. Perhaps.

If the GOP hopes to win in 2008, they're going to need a candidate like Hagel who can distance himself from the trainwreck of Bush policy. It'll be tough for someone like him to succeed in the primaries, since the party is controlled by the extremists, but if things keep getting worse for Bush and his cronies, he'll have a chance.

'Tis amusing to think that the GOP might go with someone in 2008 who has a saner position on the war than the Democratic candidate.

[liberalhistorian]

2. And the Republican military attack machine

begins its work on Hagel's military record and service in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..........................................

I hope he's ready for it, because they have no shame at all, especially those who never served in the first place.

[kcass1954]

23. I hate his politics, but I do respect his military service. n/t

[driver8]

3. OMG-- I hate the picture and would love to smack that woman!

I'm not a violent person, but that stupid purple band-aid pisses me off so much!!!

Way to support the troops, idiots.

[Bluebear]

4. STOP! Oh, what I started....

It's your computer, not really her! Oh, the humanity.

[pacalo]

9. Well, ignorant & obnoxious as she may be

I thought it was a cute effect for your article. It's also good to highlight their ignorance whenever appropriate.

[Cha]

10. That's a Dead On description

of the far right..Poor Terri!

They don't call them the Insane wing for nothing.

[Bluebear]

12. Meanwhile, GREAT toon! nt

[Solly Mack]

6. Take an erasable marker and draw mean things on her-that's what I do

I do it to a lot of pictures I don't like... :)

[mmonk]

5. But it is policy

to the neocons, the administration, the pentagon, and the DLC. Make no mistake about that.

[fishnfla]

7. Reminds me of something Kerry said

'you can think you are certain about something and still be wrong'

it takes the wiser man to admit that you have made a mistake

[liberalhistorian]

26. I know, and he also truly understood

the vital role dissent plays and has always played in this country, and he's not afraid of it. His response when facing counter-demonstrations at his rallies and speeches was truly classy and worthy of a true American statesman, unlike the juvenile, childish, ignorant Boy King Impostor. SIGH.

[Cha]

8. That ugly witch is who came

to mind when I see the words "Purple Heart"..she's managed to put an extremely Ugly Face on Purple Heart as a military honor.

[Bluebear]

11. You are right. Frankly, she managed to ruin something noble & heroic

Of course, that doesn't matter, as long as they "won". Right, cons?

[kodi]

13. Why does Chuck Hagel hate America?

will Rush Lumpbaugh call Hagel a staff puke too?

[Bluebear]

14. Yes, yes. The slander machine is cooking something now

Count on it.

[FreedomToons]

15. Pulling out of Iraq

http://www.freedomtoons.org

[newyawker99]

21. Hi FreedomToons!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[fujiyama]

16. The only Dem I see saying somehing similar is Feingold...

Why can't Hillary and Bayh and other Dems start saying what has to be said? Instead they are saying we need MORE troops?!! WTF!

GET THE TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ!

[Cha]

19. The only way to get more "troops" is

the Draft! Most people aren't that stupid too enlist now..which means your life is a Crapshoot in Iraq.

[catmandu57]

17. The course we're on is like running the rapids in

a very small wooden boat, with no steering or control. It's going to end badly no matter what, if somehow we can stay afloat with a piece of the wreckage we'll be doing good.
Off topic, does anyone know who that fucking witch is?

[Bluebear]

18. Why, it's the lovely Pat Beale

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/04/09/07_purple.html

thanks to punpirate

[catmandu57]

20. She's a lovely person isn't she?

I hope karma catches her by the ass and swings her head first into something hard enough so that she needs a bandaid.

[driver8]

27. Wow! That is a great article. Thanks for sharing that.

Yeah...the repubes really know how to support the troops.

[tabasco]

22. It's not an objective, either.

Militarily, planning for this war could not have been worse. Rumsfeld failed to heed good advice and insisted on his lean and mean corporate war plan. It's been a royal fuck-up since the word "go", as we left hundreds of tons of high-grade explosives unsecured. It's just gone downhill from there.

Of course, we are assuming the war was supposed to end, which is probably not the way the neocons think. They want war to continue to establish an American empire safeguarding Israel and corporate profits.

When will we know we have won the war? Nobody knows. It's just what happens when robber barons run a country. Unnecessary wars.

[Hubert Flottz]

24. Chuck has a great chance since he still owns stock in the voting

machine mob!

EDIT...CHUCK MUST BE ONE OF THOSE "OLD HIPPIES!" That Duncan "Peters" Hunter, was speaking of on Wolf Blitzkreig's 'Nazi Say The Darndest Things' show today!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. The Million Dollar Question: Why has the wrath of the might Repub media

machine not descended upon him, a la Dick Durbin or Cindy Sheehan? Could he perhaps be the chosen one for 08?