GOP unity is strained by attacks
Senior Republicans have begun raising
concerns about the administration’s strategy in Iraq amid daily attacks on U.S.
forces there.
But congressional Republicans still echo President Bush’s
overall positive assessment of reconstruction, even as some warn of political
trouble unless signs of improvement become clearer fast.
Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.), who recently compared aspects of the conflict to Vietnam,
yesterday said U.S. forces need to be more proactive.
“To set up
roadblocks after the bomb goes off is not the answer,” he said. “We’ve got to
get into prevention.”
The number of attacks on U.S. forces has increased
to about 30 a day in recent weeks, and a series of apparently coordinated
attacks rocked Baghdad on Monday. Another attack targeted the a-Rashid Hotel in
Baghdad, where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying.
“We
need more troops,” said McCain. “We need more special forces. We need more
marines. We need more intelligence capabilities.”
McCain is often among
those Republicans most willing to criticize the administration — although he
often refrains from doing so on military and foreign policy matters.
But
other Republicans joined him in raising questions about U.S.
tactics.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who chairs the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said he was concerned that U.S. forces were unable to anticipate many
of the attacks in a situation he described as tantamount to a guerrilla war in
which the enemy is able to strike and then quickly retreat into the population.
“I can tell you, I’m very worried about the lack of pertinent
intelligence to fight that kind of a war,” he said. “It appears we have some
real problems.”
Asked whether he favored any policy changes in Iraq, Sen.
Trent Lott (R-Miss.) responded: “We need to have a different mix of troops, is
the key. We may need to move some troops around.”
Lott suggested moving
more troops from the relatively stable south closer to the region around Tikrit,
where attacks on U.S. forces have been common. He said there was a need for more
trained military police, adding that his comments were not a
criticism.
“Honestly, it’s a little tougher than I thought it was going
to be,” Lott said. In a sign of frustration, he offered an unorthodox military
solution: “If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens.
You’re dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we
need to be very aggressive in taking them out.”
Republicans fear they
could suffer in the polls if the situation does not improve, since the
administration’s Iraq policy is so closely associated with Bush.
“Politically, it is difficult,” said Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.),
“because certainly for the American public … they read: ‘Americans killed every
day,’ and it hurts. But I, at least at this point, am convinced that we’re doing
the right thing, and we’re doing the best we can.
“What’s the
alternative? It’s not to cut and run.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)said the
situation in Iraq “will continue to be a political issue because it will
continue to be a matter of public concern as long as there are any casualties.”
Results so far had been mixed, he said and cited the recent conference in Madrid
which secured loans and pledges to help rebuild Iraq, as well as passage of a
new U.N. Security Council resolution.
“What I worry about most is that
we will simply lose our resolve, and we won’t finish the job,” he added.
GOP criticisms have emerged only recently and no Republican has come
close to statements by retired Gen. Wesley Clark and other Democrats that the
administration has no plan for Iraq.
In fact, Sen. Sam Brownback
(R-Kan.) chided the media for focusing on casualties at the exclusion of
positive developments in Iraq’s reconstruction. In a sign of the
administration’s ability to secure GOP unity, Brownback acknowledged that he
probably lacked the votes for a compromise plan to provide some aid to Iraq in
the form of loans — an idea the White House opposes.
“The opposition, the
terrorist groups, the Baathists read our media and read our public opinion
polls, and are trying to play to the country’s opinion,” he said.
Brownback even said U.S. adversaries were using attacks to drive down
support for Bush.
“Absolutely,” he said. “No question in my mind. This
is an international media. They know the importance of this.”
Bush, who
was criticized on the Hill yesterday for saying that attacks in Iraq were a sign
U.S. progress and the terrorists’ desperation, was resolute at a White House
press conference. “This country will stay the course,” he said. “We’ll do our
job.”
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