Congressional Republicans Admit What Bush Hides

WHILE BUSH DELIVERS HAPPY TALK ON IRAQ…

Bush: “We’re going to help train Iraqi police and army so they can defend themselves against the few who are trying to stop the dreams of the many in that country. We’ll help them, and we’re making progress. We’re making progress. It’s tough. Of course, it’s tough, because there are killers there who are trying to shake our will and shake the will of the Iraqis. It’s tough on the Iraqi citizens.” [Bush, 9/17/04]

GOP SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN SPEAK THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DIFFICULTIES IN IRAQ

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)

Hagel: We Are In “Deep Trouble”
Hagel: “The fact is we’re in trouble. We’re in deep trouble in Iraq. We need more regionalization. We need more help from our allies. We need the Iraqi people to come around us in a more supportive way. That means more jobs, more development… I think we’re going to have to look at recalibration of policy.” [CBS, “Face The Nation,” 9/18/04]

Hagel: Criticism of Bush Administration Is Well Placed
Hagel: “No, I don’t think we’re winning. In all due respect to my friend Jon Kyl, the term ‘hand-wringing’ is a little misplaced here. The fact is a crisp, sharp analysis of our policies are required.
But to say, well, we just must stay the course and any of you who are questioning are just hand wringers is not very responsible…” [CBS, “Face The Nation,” 9/18/04]

Hagel: Failures In Reconstructing Iraq Suggest We Are Not Winning
Hagel: “[The Administration’s request to transfer $3.4 billion of Iraq reconstruction funds to security] does not add up, in my opinion, to a pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we’re winning. But it does add up to this, an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble .” [Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, 9/15/04]

Hagel: Failure To Spend Money To Reconstruct Iraq Is “Dangerous”
Hagel: “[The slow rate of reconstruction spending is] beyond pitiful, it’s beyond embarrassing; it’s now in the zone of dangerous,” [Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, 9/15/04]

Hagel: U.S. Is Carrying the Burden Alone
Hagel: “So again going back to any grand illusions, kidding ourselves about who’s carrying the burden here, big time, big time it’s the United States.” [Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, 9/15/04]

Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)
Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Lugar: U.S. “Failing” To Influence Iraqi’s Hearts and Minds
Lugar: “Of the $18.4 billion the Congress appropriated for Iraq more than 10 months ago, only $1.14 billion has been disbursed as of September 8. Although we recognize these funds must not be spent unwisely, the slow pace of reconstruction spending means that we are failing to fully take advantage of one of our most potent tools to influence the direction of Iraq.” [Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, 9/15/04]

Lugar: Bush Administration Was Blindly Optimistic, “Nonsense” Now “Apparent”
Lugar: “Our committee heard blithely optimistic people from the administration prior to the war, and people outside the administration, what I call the ‘dancing in the street’ crowd, that we just simply will be greeted with open arms. And we asked one witness how long do we stay. ‘Not very long. You get out of there. America fights the war, we get out, people are free, Saddam is gone, and then they’re rejoicing, they’ve established democracy.’ Now, the nonsense of all of that is apparent. The lack of planning is apparent.” [Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, 9/15/04]

Lugar: Administration “Incompetence” Is Hurting Effort In Iraq
Lugar: “We have to have more police officers trained. That's the first point. We have to have better coordination between our people who are doing the bombing and the military side and the Iraqis who are doing the police work, so that we do not alienate further the Iraqi people by intrusions that are very difficult and are costly in terms of lives. We've got to get the reconstruction money out there. That was the gist of our hearing this week that $18 billion is appropriated a year ago and only $1 billion has been spent.”
…
Question: But why is this happening?
Lugar: Well, this is incompetence in the administration. That's why both of us said as critics of, we're in fact the most constructive critics. We want the Iraqis to have a democracy. We want the president and Allawi to have a great meeting in which they can consolidate forces, we cheer Allawi and the congress. We push on against the terrorists, against all who would try to undermine this as well as the Afghanistan situation or the windup of Kosovo. We have a lot at stake in this world.” [ABC This Week, 9/19/04, emphasis added]

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

Graham: Need To Be More Honest About Difficulties in Iraq
Graham: “And it is going to be a tough sled. And we need to be more direct and more honest about how difficult it will be.” [MSNBC, “Hardball,” 9/16/04]

Graham: Don’t Have The Right Troops To Do the Job
Graham: “I’m not so sure much that you need combat troops as much as a better skill mix; 40 percent of the people by the end of the year are going to be Guard and Reservists. So I would like to have more troops on the ground to do the things necessary to stabilize the economy and the country… I have believed for over a year and a half that we do not have enough people to repair the infrastructure and provide security and we need more.” [MSNBC, “Hardball,” 9/16/04]

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.)

McCain: Bush Needs A Plan
McCain: “I’d like to see more of an overall plan articulated by the president…” [Fox News Sunday, 9/18/04]

McCain: Cannot Allow Terrorist Sanctuaries; “We’re Not Winning”
McCain: “There’s nowhere in the history of warfare that shows that if you allow the enemy to have sanctuary, that you can--that you can win the battle. And we’re not winning.” [NBC, “Nightly News,” 9/14/04]

McCain: Violence May Jeopardize Elections
McCain: “…We’re not going to have those [Iraqi] national elections until we get rid of the [insurgent] sanctuaries. Or at least they’re not going to be effective.” [Fox News Sunday, 9/18/04]

Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-Neb.)

Bereuter: Military Action a “Mistake”
Bereuter: “It was a mistake to launch that military action.” [CNN.com, 8/18/04; emphasis added; as quoted in Lincoln (Nebraska) Star-Journal]

Bereuter: Wrong Intelligence Means War “Not Justified”
Bereuter: “I’ve reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action. Knowing now what I know about the reliance on the tenuous or insufficiently corroborated intelligence used to conclude that Saddam maintained a substantial WMD arsenal, I believe that launching the pre-emptive military action was not justified.” [CNN.com, 8/18/04; emphasis added; as quoted in Lincoln (Nebraska) Star-Journal]

Bereuter: Iraq a “Dangerous, Costly Mess”
Bereuter: “From the beginning of the conflict, it was doubtful that we for long would be seen as liberators, but instead increasingly as an occupying force…Now we are immersed in a dangerous, costly mess, and there is no easy and quick way to end our responsibilities in Iraq without creating bigger future problems in the region and, in general, in the Muslim world.” [AP, 8/18/04]

Bereuter: Intelligence May Have Been “Intentionally Misconstrued”
Bereuter: “ Left unresolved for now is whether intelligence was intentionally misconstrued to justify military action.” [CNN.com, 8/18/04; emphasis added; as quoted in Lincoln (Nebraska) Star-Journal]

Bereuter: America’s Reputation “Has Never Been Lower”
Bereuter: “[As a result of the war] our country’s reputation around the world has never been lower and our alliances are weakened.” [AP, 8/18/04]

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