The Politics Of The Iraq War

Four Years After The Invasion, Almost Everything Is Different In Washington

(AP)  Four years into the Iraq war, about the only thing that has not changed is President Bush's insistence the fight can be won.

With more than 3,200 U.S. troops dead and still no clear way out, the political landscape could not be more different.

Public support for the war has fallen to its lowest levels. Republicans have lost control of Congress because of voters' angst over the conflict. Even the president has acknowledged the tactical approach to the war must change.

The debate on whether to launch a pre-emptive attack against a nation has given way to this question: How soon should U.S. troops leave?

"The war that we the Congress authorized the president to engage in is different than the one we're in today," acknowledged GOP Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida, an ardent Bush supporter whose seat Democrats are targeting in the 2008 elections.

With sectarian attacks on the rise in Iraq, "I think we have to have a very serious appraisal of how you conduct yourself in that type of situation," Young said.

Young is not alone in questioning whether the U.S. is on the right track. Bush's critics and supporters alike say the four years of violence and the death toll has led to soul-searching over how far Congress should go to intervene in a war that has gone badly.

White House officials and many legal experts contend the Constitution gives the president supreme authority on foreign policy matters and control of the armed forces, whereas Congress' clearest option is to cut off money.

Democrats, reluctant to restrict that money for fear of being accused of abandoning the troops, are considering laws that would set a deadline for the war.

If these bills pass, Bush is expected to veto the legislation or ignore it.

But how much longer the president can hold out is uncertain. His Jan. 10 announcement that he planned to send in 21,500 more combat troops found support among most Republicans. Yet even they say the clock is ticking.

"If this current strategy doesn't work, the options aren't good," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. If the violence continues, "you're going to see more and more people suggest we've got to do something different."

Such skepticism was rare in 2003 when the bombing began. Members of Congress lined up in support of the U.S.-led invasion; many were Democrats who did not want to appear reluctant to prevent another potential Sept. 11 attack.

Among those who voted in favor of the war are some of Bush's chief critics, including Democratic presidential contenders John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

Since then, public sentiment toward the war has changed dramatically. Almost three-fourths of people in the U.S. supported the war when it began in March 2003, while one-fourth opposed it, according to Gallup polling at the time.

Last month, AP-Ipsos polling found that not quite four in 10 people surveyed agreed with the decision to go to war and six in 10 opposed — the same levels of support found by a recent Gallup poll.

The inability to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq did not help in maintaining support for the war. The claim that Saddam Hussein possessed such weapons was a main justification the administration used for the war.

Public acceptance of the war eroded as American casualties mounted and U.S. troops, initially focused on Sunni insurgents, instead had to grapple with Sunni-Shiite violence. This past week, the Pentagon said the violence was taking on aspects of a civil war.

Military officials agree that the task of easing that bloodshed is best accomplished by Iraqi security forces, once they become capable.

Other blows to the once-popular war effort were revelations of American forces abusing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and the massacre of Iraqi civilians at Haditha. Most recently there have been reports of substandard care of wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

One political marker was last October when Virginia Sen. John Warner declared the war was "drifting sideways." A prominent Republican on military issues, Warner stood beside Bush in 2002 as the president signed into law the congressional authorization for the war.

But four years later, upon returning from a trip to Iraq, Warner said he had lost confidence that the Iraqi government was making progress and worried that sectarian violence had consumed Baghdad.

After the elections, Warner proposed a congressional resolution stating opposition to the president's plan to augment force levels. The resolution drowned amid partisan bickering and was never voted on, but it attracted enough Republican support to worry the White House that it was losing its support base.

In another sign of the changing times, news of al Qaeda member Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession that he masterminded Sept. 11 and plotted some 30 other attacks quickly gave way to another development. House Democrats won their first vote on a war spending bill that would demand the president pull troops out of Iraq before September 2008.

As that confrontation looms in the full House, Bush's supporters say they will continue to review their options to bring troops home.

Young says regardless of everything that has happened, he is not thinking of abandoning his president. But when asked if the war is winnable, Young's response was more one of optimism than anything else.

"It has to be" winnable, he said. "We can't let terrorists continue to threaten the United States."

[huskerarmy]

"The Swift Boat group were all registered Vietnam veterans, entitled to say their piece, whether you agree with it or not..."
"...you can't HONESTLY believe the "Swift Boat" Vets were just a bunch of concerned vets."

I don't understand how the right keeps referring to lies as mere "differences of opinion." The Swift Boat vets were a bunch of knee jerk reactionaries, organized by Carl Rove, in an orchestrated lie, designed to debase the service of a decorated U.S., war time veteran... nothing more. There was not one of them who was on the boat with Kerry, yet several initiallly claimed to have been. They have been thoroughly discredited and they are a disgrace to the uniforms that they wore.

[mcvet]

Yet, CBS reports: "CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports few Iraqis feel there is anything to be thankful for"

So, who are we to believe......the Iraqis or CBS???

Posted by US_Infidel at 08:55 AM : Mar 19, 2007

If you fascist hate CBS News so much why the hell are you here? There has got to be several dozen Nazi sites or "News" groups that will not say one bad word about you fuehrer and thanks to this AWLFUL Liberal Nation you live in you have the option of getting your news from them. But that isn't good enough is it. Nooooo!! You Nazi's want YOUR news 24/7 on ALL chanels and you want to make sure that YOUR views are just available but are the ONLY one's there are. Strange that you clowns have the EXACT same arguments against the Free Press now that you had before the King fell over 200 years ago. Strange indeed. Sieg Heil

[grumpas]

gunnerv1 You are right on the money you are an idiot!!!!!! At least liberal's have some idea of what a democracy is! That's more than I can say for rabid conservative's like you! People like you seem befuddled about the Constitution ( you have a hard time figuring out what it means)! How do I know you are a Rabid Conservative? You are fond of dumb bumper stickers like "These Colors Never Run (unless your a liberal)". Liberal's were smart enough to know the Religious Extremist's would fight any invasion every step of the way! That George Bush was opening a can of worms that was going to be his undoing! So don't knock liberal's! Most of you should know what's wrong with George Bush, but you don't seem to have the moral's to really care! I think people like you make fun of liberal's because they are smarter than you are. You wish you had a brain in your head!

[abbe7]

MCVet said and I mostly agree:

"The "War" in Iraq has NOTHING to do with those who attacked us"

unless "those who attacked us" are the same who are sending troops over there.

[abbe7]

MCVet said and I mostly agree:

"The "War" in Iraq has NOTHING to do with those who attacked us"

unless "those who attacked us" and the same who are sending troops over there.

[mcvet]

It simly amazes me how leader after leader, expert after expert keep telling these fools who support the KING Fool of them all that there is no military solution to this mess and they just want to keep on keeping on. HOW many times have we heard this garbage about, just a few more months? Look we have been mislead into a Civil War PERIOD. These people do not want us and they sure as hell aren't going to allow us to tell them how to govern themselves. IF we start acting like visiting friends, IF we pull our troops back into camps and say to the people of the Country, How can we help, there may be a way out. It will take the world community though, you all remember the ones this Low life Scum, some still call a President, insulted when that help was offered upon entering Bagdad? Anyone who is fool enough, at this point, to think that what the Incompetent Commander in Chief told us is going to happen is smoking something illegal. Sieg Heil all you faithful followers of the Fuehrer.

[mcvet]

Anybody who still believes that George Bush is anything but a loudmouth, born again, fruitcake is an idiot.
Posted by tejasdemo at 11:19 AM : Mar 19, 2007

I just do not think it can be said any better than you have said it. We can continue to hope and deny the obvious until the end of time and the results will be the same.

[mcvet]

guess I'm an Idiot. (But you will be proved wrong in the long run) These Colors Never Run (unless your a liberal).
Posted by gunnerv1 at 11:59 AM : Mar 19, 2007
+ report this comment


Who's running you MORON! God you Nazi's are SOOOOOOOOOOO stupid!! We're in the WRONG Contry you pathetic LOSER!! The "War" in Iraq has NOTHING to do with those who attacked us, they aren't even threatened at this point and are just continuing to do what they've always done. Maybe you can get together with you fellow Red Necks, Pool your intelligence and figure out that Bush was LYING to you. Dumb as a box of rocks!! Sieg Heil.

[mcvet]

Stevex47 - The GOP are the bashers!? - the last 6 years have been nothing but a kool-aid drinking left-wing bashing orgy by the MoveOn.org, CodePink, Air America crowd of the world that you must love...The Swift Boat group were all registered Vietnam veterans, entitled to say their piece, whether you agree with it or not...what are your immense qualifications for bashing? A mental disability?
Posted by fredgrad2000 at 07:02 PM : Mar 19, 2007

PLEASE tell me you aren't this stupid. I know being a fascist requires that you be stupid but you can't HONESTLY believe the "Swift Boat" Vets were just a bunch of concerned vets. ROFLMAO Let me guess, YOU still think we won in Iraq right? LOL The "Bashing" you talk about. Are you saying there is NO basis for concern here? That these AMERICAN's whom you fascist have focused hatred at now of decades didn't have REAL concerns to voice? ROFLMAO You need help!! Seek it NOW and for God sake stop whinning...it's disgusting! Sieg Heil

[abbe7]

CBS ? I have still some trouble understanding why this doesn't make it to the headlines ...

"Rep. Waxman asks White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten to explain why the White House failed to conduct any investigation following the disclosure of Valerie Plame Wilson%u2019s covert CIA employment. The letter follows the testimony of the Director of the Office of Security at the White House, James Knodell, that the White House Security Office did not follow the investigative steps prescribed by Executive Order 12958."

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1213

[fredgrad2000]

Stevex47 - The GOP are the bashers!? - the last 6 years have been nothing but a kool-aid drinking left-wing bashing orgy by the MoveOn.org, CodePink, Air America crowd of the world that you must love...The Swift Boat group were all registered Vietnam veterans, entitled to say their piece, whether you agree with it or not...what are your immense qualifications for bashing? A mental disability?

[musty2u]

And the funds continue unscathed by those who want to defraud our government to those deployed.

[stevex47]

"YOU HAVE SPENT TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR KNEES SUCKING THE TEXAS DICKTATER! STAND UP AND WIPE YOUR CHIN OFF!"

Normally, bluestardad is too hard core for even me, but this is just downright funny !! ha

[bluestardad]

YES WE ARE CUTTING OFF FUNDS FOR THE WAR IN IRAQ!

IF YOU WANT TO CALL IT CUTTING OFF FUNDS FOR THE TROOPS THEN YOU HAVE SPENT TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR KNEES SUCKING THE TEXAS DICKTATER! STAND UP AND WIPE YOUR CHIN OFF!

Israel is pushing America to Stay in Iraq!

DO A LITTLE RESEARCH OR SHUT THEHELL UP YOU IDIOTS!

TRULY SOME OF YOU ARE SO IGNORANT IT DEFIES REASON THAT YOU CAN CROSS THE ROAD!

http://www.aipac.org/forms/join_aipacClubs.htm

Republicans up for reelection!

Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN)
Allard, Wayne- (R - CO)
Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA)
Cochran, Thad- (R - MS)
Coleman, Norm- (R - MN)
Collins, Susan M.- (R - ME)
Cornyn, John- (R - TX)
Craig, Larry E.- (R - ID)
Dole, Elizabeth- (R - NC)
Enzi, Michael B.- (R - WY)
Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC)
Hagel, Chuck- (R - NE)
Inhofe, James M.- (R - OK)
McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY)
Roberts, Pat- (R - KS)
Sessions, Jeff- (R - AL)
Smith, Gordon H.- (R - OR)
Stevens, Ted- (R - AK)
Sununu, John E.- (R - NH)
Warner, John- (R - VA)

If you think Americas sacrifice is worth it contact your ELECTED OFFICIAL and tell them http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Speakers email address: [e-mail]

[e-mail]
Here is the Republican Party email address!

[e-mail] Here is the Democratic Party email address also!

[scott4261]

Stevex47,

I heard Air America's Sam Seder play a clip of OxyContin-addled Rush from the day after the Scooter Libby trail was over, complete with sound effects of a bong bubbling in the background! LOL! I was laughing so hard, I had to pull over to the side of the road!

[sshard]

sjc
Before Cheney became VP, he said %u201CSo where is the oil going to come from?%u2026 The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world%u2019s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies,%u201D

You do think this kind of thinking played a part in forming policies in Iraq?

[sjc_1]

When I see all the blood, lives and money expended ending up a very lucrative deal for the oil companies, it makes me furious. Our soldiers did not become wounded or die so that the big oil companies could get even richer off a 30 year exclusive deal that gives them almost everything they could ever want out of a cripple Iraq.

[stevex47]

Scott,
Love your posts. "And before the Bush apologist start bashing my post, let me say this"

They've been taught to bash (limbaugh, swiftboats, etc). That's all they know. Evidently they think they get some reward for that. Sad, how many rallied around limbaugh the drug induced loudmouth.

[scott4261]

I have to ask the question again: HOW has the war in Iraq been worth it? Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden couldn't have conspired to attack the U.S. because they hated each other. Saddam was secular and Osama is a religious extremist. This war was not worth one drop of American blood. And the very occupation by the U.S. has created a vacuum for terrorist activity where there was none before.

And for what? To benefit Exxon/Mobil, Halliburton, and KBR? I believe that one need only to follow the war profiteering money trail to find out just how much is wrong with this war and why I detest what is happening now.

And before the Bush apologist start bashing my post, let me say this: I get irritated when I am told that I am somehow undermining troop morale, that I hate America, that I'm a traitor, that I'm unpatriotic,.....whatever...you name it....just because I choose to speak out against the actions of this corrupt administration. I love my country and that is why I am willing to speak up.

This war has been a grave error.

[stevex47]

Infidel now quit lying,
"MOST Iraqis believe life is better for them now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to a British opinion poll published today"

Here's the latest truth:
"Face-to-face interviews with 2,212 Iraqis -- a survey jointly sponsored by USA TODAY, ABC News, the BBC, and ARD, a German TV network -- find a nation that in large part has fragmented into fear. Six in 10 Iraqis (61 percent) say their lives are going badly, and only a third (35 percent) expect things to improve in the next year."

Infidel, join the last of the lemmings....