GOP Sen.: Iraq Bill "a Bullet Right In The Hearts Of Our Troops"

By Martin Kady II

(The Politico)  In the war of words over Iraq, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) may want this one back.

Speaking about a Democratic proposal to force Iraq troop withdrawal within 120 days, Hutchison said Tuesday that such a proposal would "put a bullet right in the hearts of our troops who are there."

Hutchison had joined fellow Republican leaders to question the political motivations behind the 35th Iraq related vote in the Senate over the past year, and was trying to make the point that mandatory withdrawal on the heels of recent military success would undermine the troops.

But her choice of words made it sound like Democrats were advocating something that would kill U.S. troops, and it didn't go over well with Democratic leaders.

"Poor choice of words from a senator who voted against providing our troops with the body armor needed to stop bullets in the first place," said Rodell Mollineau, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Indeed, Reid's office was quick with the oppo research, producing a 2003 vote in which Hutchison joined other Republican senators to kill an amendment that would have provided $322 million for body armor and other equipment while reducing funds for Iraq reconstruction.

Hutchison spokesman Matt Mackowiak said his boss meant to say "bullseye" and has used that phrase in the past, even though the transcript of the comments say "bullet."

Nonetheless, Mackowiak says Hutchison believes "precipitous withdrawal would cede the region to al-Qaeda, ignite sectarian violence, plunge Iraq into civil war, risk wider war in the region, and .... It would gravely undermine American interests in the entire Middle East.”