[Vision2020] Republicans Jump From Sinking Ship

[Tbertruss at aol.com]

All:

I'll let the words of Republican conservative Rep. Walter Jones, known for 
the renaming of "french fries" to "freedom fries," express some of my views on 
the Bush administration's cruel and senseless Iraq policy.  Ah, it's wonderful 
to feel such a bond of common ideas with a North Carolina conservative 
Republican:  

Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina conservative, said on ABC's "This Week" 
that he would offer legislation this week setting a timetable for the 
withdrawal from Iraq.

"I voted for the resolution to commit the troops, and I feel that we've done 
about as much as we can do," said Jones, who coined the phrase "freedom fries" 
to lash out at the French for opposing the Iraq invasion.

Jones, a member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, 
said "primarily the neoconservatives" in the administration were to blame for 
flawed war planning.

"The reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the 
Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never 
there," he said.  Jones joins some of Congress' most liberal Democrats in demanding 
a deadline to withdraw troops from a conflict they said has been too costly 
in U.S. lives and money.

Entire article at this link and also below:

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050613000009990004

Updated: 11:35 AM EDT
Republican Lawmakers Urge Shift in Iraq Plans
By Vicki Allen, Reuters

WASHINGTON (June 13) - A Republican congressman called for a deadline to pull 
U.S. troops from Iraq, while some other members of President Bush's party 
urged on Sunday that his administration come to grips with a persistent 
insurgency and revamp Iraq policy.

Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina conservative, said on ABC's "This Week" 
that he would offer legislation this week setting a timetable for the 
withdrawal from Iraq.

"I voted for the resolution to commit the troops, and I feel that we've done 
about as much as we can do," said Jones, who coined the phrase "freedom fries" 
to lash out at the French for opposing the Iraq invasion.

Other Republicans on television talk shows joined Democrats in criticizing 
the administration for playing down the insurgency, while overestimating the 
ability of Iraq's fledgling forces to fight without U.S. soldiers in the lead and 
failing to plan for the post-invasion occupation.

"The insurgency is alive and well. We underestimated the viability of the 
insurgency," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CBS' Face 
the Nation. He said the administration has "been slow to adjust when it comes 
to troop strength and supporting our troops."

Graham said the Army is contending with a serious shortfall in recruiting 
"because this war is going sour in terms of word of mouth from parents and 
grandparents." He said "if we don't adjust, public opinion is going to keep slipping 
away."

Jones, a member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, 
said "primarily the neoconservatives" in the administration were to blame for 
flawed war planning.
 
"The reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the 
Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never 
there," he said.

Jones joins some of Congress' most liberal Democrats in demanding a deadline 
to withdraw troops from a conflict they said has been too costly in U.S. lives 
and money.

According to a new Gallup Poll, nearly six in 10 Americans say the United 
States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq, up from 49 percent 
who held that view in February, USA Today reported in its Monday edition.

The Bush administration contends that setting a withdrawal date would fuel an 
insurgency that Vice President Dick Cheney recently said was in "the last 
throes."

Graham opposed setting a date. "If the insurgents drive us out ... we've lost 
a big battle in the war on terror," he said.

Jones said he was pushing the legislation because his "heart aches" at the 
nearly 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and 12,000 seriously wounded in Iraq. He said 
Iraqis should defend themselves once their forces are trained.

Rep. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who just returned from Iraq, 
joined several Democrats saying the administration must be more candid and 
acknowledge that it could take about two years to train Iraqi forces to replace U.S. 
soldiers and allow a significant pullout."

We can't come back to America and have our people being convinced that the 
Iraqi troops are prepared to take over, when they're not," he said on NBC's Meet 
the Press.

Weldon also said the administration must "come to grips" with a rising 
insurgency, boosted by fighters from Syria and Iran, "which for some reason our 
intelligence community does not want to acknowledge or deal with."

Weldon said he heard "a common theme" in Iraq that the largest number of 
foreign insurgents may be coming from Syria, but that "Iran overwhelmingly has the 
quality behind the insurgency."Sen. 

Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, said on CNN's Late Edition, that "many of 
us warned this administration before we ever put a boot on the ground" that 
it would face a long-term conflict. "We didn't have plans for it. And we are 
now where we are," he said.06-13-05 06:07 EDT  
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V2020 Post by Ted Moffett
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