Do These 12 Republicans Want At Least 10 More Years In Iraq?

[babylonsister]

Do These 12 Republicans Want At Least 10 More Years In Iraq?

Submitted by Bill Scher on September 12, 2007


Wednesday's New York Times bottom-lines the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker: " conceded Tuesday that the Bush administration’s overall strategy in Iraq would remain largely unchanged after the temporary increase in American forces is over next summer, and made clear their view that the United States would need a major troop presence in Iraq for years to come."

This is no surprise. Petraeus' team has consistently said -- in February, June, July and August -- that the "average" counterinsurgency effort takes about 10 years, clearly indicating that's his expectation for his current mission.

(And that doesn't even address the fundamentally destabilizing permanent military bases the Bush administration has said it plans to maintain in Iraq.)

By my count, there are 11 Senate Republicans who have tried to appear critical of Bush's occupation -- in addition to the four GOP senators who did not filibuster the last Democratic attempt to mandate a real troop redeployment.

Seven more GOP senators are needed to ensure an up-or-down vote on such a plan, despite the fact that it already has majority support in Congress and among the public.

Those 11 are: Alexander (Tenn.), Coleman (Minn.), Domenici (N.M.), Lugar (Ind.), McConnell (Ky.), Murkowski (Alaska), Sessions (Ala.), Specter (Penn.), Sununu (N.H.), Warner (Va.) and Voinovich (Ohio).

A 12th, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C), inched away from Bush Tuesday, according to the Washington Post: "Even ... Dole ... a mainstream conservative who has never publicly strayed from the administration's position on Iraq, made it clear that she would now support 'what some have called action-forcing measures.'"

more...

http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/do_these_12_republicans_want_least_10_more_years_iraq?tx=3

[harun]

1. May be right on some of those, wrong on McConnell (Ky.)

He has flat out said he wants troops there for the long term, regardless of the situation they are in.

[babylonsister]

2. 10 years seems fairly long-term to me. nt