LAT: Challenges to Bush's Iraq Policy Gain Dramatic Momentum

[DeepModem Mom]

Challenges to Bush's Iraq Policy Gain Dramatic Momentum
By Janet Hook and Ronald Brownstein, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON -- For months, the politics of the Iraq war have been frozen in place, with stalwart Republicans defending President Bush's policy and most Democrats shunning a direct challenge.

Now, the ice has begun to crack.

In the face of solidifying public opposition to the war, a mounting U.S. body count and a renewed focus on the faulty intelligence used to justify the war, Democratic lawmakers and candidates have sharpened their critique of the administration's policy and, in some cases, urged a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

"The mood has really shifted," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who in August became the chamber's first member to call for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. "We are in a whole different period."

Meanwhile, some Republicans who were strong backers of Bush's policy increasingly are distancing themselves from his optimism that the U.S. mission will be successful — even after the recent approval of a new Iraqi constitution....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-110205iraqassess_lat,0,6875915.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[rodeodance]

1. Good news folks!

Now, the ice has begun to crack.

[rodeodance]

2. nominated

[rodeodance]

3. "The mood has really shifted," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.),

[freedom_to_read]

16. Russ was the first one to take a stand

mad props to him.

[rodeodance]

4. great headline!

[DeepModem Mom]

12. I don't want to jinx things, but we're seeing more like this lately. nt

[rodeodance]

5. "I hope that is a turning point," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

....Meanwhile, some Republicans who were strong backers of Bush's policy increasingly are distancing themselves from his optimism that the U.S. mission will be successful — even after the recent approval of a new Iraqi constitution.

"I hope that is a turning point," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of the constitution's passage. "But there is increasing skepticism. We've had a lot of events that appeared to be turning points, but the violence continues."

The changing political dynamic was dramatized this week when Democrats launched an unusually bold challenge on war policy: They essentially shut down the Senate to force release of a languishing report on whether the administration distorted or mishandled intelligence in making the case for invading Iraq. Chastened Republicans quickly agreed to investigate the status of the report.

Even before the Senate showdown, challenges to administration policy were multiplying in recent weeks: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for the first time called for new ways to accelerate troop withdrawals. Several Democratic congressional candidates began to urge Bush to set a timeline for ending U.S. involvement in the war. And more Republicans in competitive races — including a senior Senate leader — pointedly questioned the administration's rosy assessment of the war's prospects.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Thanks, DeepModem Mom! And to the kids who weren't alive then, I offer

a word of caution:

I voted for the "peace candidate" in 1964--Lyndon Johnson. And what I got for that vote (my first vote for president) were 2 million Vietnamese and other southeast Asians slaughtered in an unjust war, and over 55,000 U.S. soldiers dead.

The "peace candidate." I kid you not.

It's not that I am not overjoyed to see the politicians and the corporate news monopolies finally responding to the will of the majority of Americans since before the invasion of Iraq (58% opposed to the war, Feb. '03). I am overjoyed to see them responding. I'm just saying be vigilant, be skeptical--always--stay informed, hold their feet to the fire, beware of lying on both sides, and, above all...

Throw Diebold and ES&S election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

[Stevepol]

7. Hey, Peace Patriot, I agree with you point by point.

I too voted for Johnson, thinking he'd be a peace candidate.

And I too think the reason we've got these warmongers in the WH is ES&S and Diebold (along with Micro-Vote, Sequoia, etc.)

If a vote were held tomorrow, Bush would win the election (according to the voting machines) 51% to 49% or something like that, no matter who runs against him. The exit polls would say that the Dem won by about 10% and anybody pointing this out would be considered a "conspiracy theorist" by the media and everybody would claim it was a sudden influx of Christian fundamentalist voters that turned the election or there'd be some other cockamamie theory that the media would accept and start promulgating around the country.

[AX10]

8. The cards are falling. The truth is slowly but surely getting...

through.

Good news! :kick:

[twaddler01]

9. we knew all along

didn't we? I think people are finally opening their eyes! :toast:

[teryang]

10. We're losing the war...nothing is politically more diastrous

any longer term consideration of the conflict has to view the American regime's position as a political failure. What are the prospects for success in Iraq? None. Money and blood and going down a bottomless pit. How long can the elites keep it up? Until the defense contractors absord every budget function in the former federal government?

[slay]

11. Nothing good can come from this war based on greed and LIES

NOTHING. Time to bring home the troops and start trying to heal our own country.

[Dora]

13. kick and recommend.

[Strawman]

14. this is a big deal. this will snowball

Soon the principled folks who opposed this war from the beginning will be joined by the finger in the wind types on both sides of the aisle who now sense that the climate of public opinion has changed.

The spiral of silence among Democratic elites is in the process of being broken. These liberal hawks who didn't want to be seen as "unpatriotic" or on the "wrong side of history" are on increasingly shaky ground in their argument that this war can be continued successfully if we just do it their way. Matthew Yglesias wrote a great article on this in the most recent American Prospect. They can now safely abandon that nonsense without fear of being labeled unpatriotic because this is becoming the mainstream view.

[goforit]

15. Backing W in the 04' election hasn't paid off for the LAT.

Time to report the truth.

You'll sleep better at night.

[jazzjunkysue]

17. I wanna see more stories like this in major newspapers.

The sheople only think what they're told to think.

This is good. Real good.