Democratic leader wants more candor on IraqThu Jun 14, 2007 11:47PM EDT
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate's top Democrat, facing a
mini-storm of Republican attacks over his reported criticism of
military leaders, said on Thursday he had high regard for the
U.S. commander in Iraq but wished Gen. David Petraeus would be
"more candid" about the difficulties there.
But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, commenting
on published reports he had criticized Petraeus and Gen. Peter
Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made clear he did not
have a good opinion of Pace.
Reid said he had told Pace to his face that "he had not done a
very good job in speaking out for some obvious things that
weren't going right in Iraq" during his tenure as the top U.S.
military officer.
-snip-The newspaper Politico reported on Thursday Reid called Pace
"incompetent." It said Reid also "made similar disparaging remarks"
about Petraeus during an interview on Tuesday with liberal
bloggers.
At the White House, spokesman Tony Snow seized on the report,
although he noted he did not know if it was true.
-snip-