Warner To Bush: “I Most Respectfully Suggest That You Put Some Teeth Behind Your Words”
Warner May Back Dems’ Bill on Withdrawal
Senator John Warner (R-VA) appeared on “Meet The Press” Sunday to discuss his call for a beginning to US troop withdrawal from Iraq by Christmas 2007. Warner, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told host Tim Russert that his announcement was meant to “respectfully suggest” to President Bush that he “put some teeth behind [his] words.”
I’ve never been a big fan of John Warner. I mean, the guy couldn’t even tell Elizabeth Taylor where to get off. On top of that, his career in the Senate has been, well, nondescript to say the least. OK, y’all…someone tell me something that Warner’s done that might make his career memorable. I’ll wait….
No, really, I’ll wait….
Not coming up with anything? Hey, don’t feel badly; I couldn’t either. Warner will certainly be known for being one of the last of the Senate’s “old guard”, the sort of eminence grise that made sure that decorum and tradition were maintained and made sure the trains ran on time. It’s a different world in both houses of Congress now, and Warner seems like nothing if not a charming anachronism.
Finally, it seems that Sen. Warner has discovered that he has a functional pair of cojones. While he’s not exactly standing up and demanding that Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © bring our troops home, for a Republican to break ranks and voice anything but unyielding support for The Worst President EVER’s © never-ending Excellent Adventure in Iraq is no small thing. Hey, it’s not much, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.
WASHINGTON — GOP Sen. John Warner, who wants U.S. troops to start coming home from Iraq by Christmas, said Sunday he may support Democratic legislation ordering withdrawals if President Bush refuses to set a return timetable soon.
“I’m going to have to evaluate it,” Warner said. “I don’t say that as a threat, but I say that is an option we all have to consider.”
Warner, a former Navy Secretary and one-time chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is seen as someone who could influence the debate among senators who have grown increasingly uneasy about the unpopular war.
Warner’s suggestion last week about bringing back some troops put him at odds with Bush, who has insisted that conditions on the ground should dictate any such decisions. Warner long has opposed legislation pushing for timetables.
The Virginia Republican said Sunday it would be best for the president, not Congress, to make a decision on withdrawals and that overriding a presidential veto would be difficult. But Warner made clear his view that people are losing patience with the administration’s strategy in Iraq, a significant change is needed in September and troop withdrawals were the best way to accomplish that.
“That’s precisely what I said to the president. I said, ‘Here is an option. You can initiate a first withdrawal. You pick the number, Mr. President. And it would send a signal to the Iraqi government that matches your words,’” Warner said. “His words being, `We’re not going to be there forever.’”
Thus far, this Administration has failed miserably when it comes to making any attempt to hold the Iraqi government accountable. Parliament takes the month of August off, and no one says “boo”. The alleged “benchmarks” set by King George the Worst © only serve to underscore that the United States is the only fully functional governmental body in Iraq. The Iraqi government is unable to handle even the most basic of governmental tasks on it’s own, primarily because there’s been no incentive for them too. Why should Iraqis feel pressure to perform when they know that the Americans are there win, lose, or clusterf—k?
It’s time that Commander Codpiece © let the Iraqi government know that our patience and our commitment to see Iraqis stand up is not open-ended. ‘Course, there is the “you broke it, you fix it” argument, which seems to be what this Administration is falling back on…or was that the “we must learn the lessons of Vietnam” propaganda points?
I don’t have a lot of respect for Sen. Warner under the best of circumstances, but in this case he’s spot-on, and I think he deserves to be credited for having the balls to say and do the right thing. It IS time that we begin to scale back this seemingly never-ending commitment to a war we cannot win. Iraqis need to understand that American patience is running thin, and that we’re growing increasingly tired of our children and loved ones dying for a government too inept and lazy to even attempt to take the reigns of power themselves.
It’s time to leave, y’all. Enough of blood and tears (apologies to the late Yitzhak Rabin). If Iraqis insist on killing Iraqis, there’s not much that we’re going to be able to do to stop them. The continued senseless slaughter of Americans needs to come to an end. NOW.
