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DEL.ICIO.USMcCain and Chambliss: Talking about Iraq, separately but together
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saxby Chambliss and John McCain are both U.S. senators. Both are Republican, both intend to be on the ‘08 ballot, and both crossed paths at the state Capitol on Tuesday.
Each is tied closely to President Bush and the conduct of the war in Iraq. And when asked why things aren’t going well in Baghdad, each brought out his own whipping boy.
Put the two senators together — one running for president, and the other for re-election — and they exemplify the problem that Iraq presents for Republicans, even in a solidly, pro-military state like Georgia.
It’s difficult to defend oneself without striking a sitting, Republican president.
McCain began the public part of his day shortly after sunrise, with a brief address to the House GOP caucus. Among Republican candidates for president, the Arizona senator has been the strongest supporter of Bush policy in the Middle East, and the loudest voice for sending more troops to contain Shi’ite and Sunni bloodshed.
State lawmakers found themselves part of a conversation that began the day before in South Carolina, where McCain had called former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfield “one of the worst secretaries of defense in history.”
McCain repeated himself in Georgia. Rumsfield was responsible for doing too little, too late in the war zone, he said. According to those who heard the remarks, McCain said the fruits of Rumsfield’s policy were on display at Walter Reed military hospital in Washington.
“It’s well chronicled that the war was mismanaged,” McCain said afterwards in the hallway. “The president has stated that. We made many mistakes. You make mistakes in war.”
McCain toned down his remarks even more when he met his next group of reporters, outside Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office. “I am being critical of everybody including all of us who are responsible for mistakes that we’ve made in the war,” McCain said. “Including myself.”
At nearly the same time, Chambliss was in the middle of an address to the state Senate — usually an occasion for friendly banter and stale jokes. But not when the topic is Iraq.
“I don’t like what’s happening over there,” said Chambliss, who as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has often served as a defender of Bush policy in a post-9/11 world. “We’ve not been doing well in the last 12 to 18 months, particularly.”
Chambliss and McCain say Bush’s infusion of 21,500 troops into Iraq needs to be given an opportunity to work. And that could pose career risks for both in ’08.
After his remarks to the Senate, Chambliss spoke to reporters. “John McCain as a presidential candidate is ‘way out on a limb,” he said. But Chambliss acknowledged he was on the same branch.
Georgia’s senior senator declined to echo McCain’s criticism of Rumsfield. “I don’t know what was wrong with our strategy or who was responsible for it,” he said.
Instead, Chambliss took aim at Gen. George Casey, confirmed by the U.S. Senate this month as Army chief of staff. Chambliss cast a protest vote against Casey, who for more than two years served as U.S. commander in Iraq.
Time after time, Chambliss said, he’d asked the general whether he needed more troops. Each time, the general said no — until this year.
“If he needed more troops, by gosh he should have asked for them. And to come to the party late like he did, I think, was not the kind of leadership we need on the ground in Iraq today,” Chambliss said.
Fall guys aside, perhaps the biggest difference between McCain and Chambliss on Tuesday was their attitude about Iraq’s future, and ours.
Chambliss was torn between optimism and the prospect of a long slog in the Middle East. “I’m very hopeful that we’ll never have to send another one of our Guardsmen or Guardswomen to Iraq. But chances are pretty good we will,” he said.
McCain offered little but the long slog. “I think we’re there for a long, long time,” he told reporters. “We’ve been in South Korea for a long, long time also.”
Comments
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By Nicholas
February 21, 2007 9:26 AM | Link to this
Wait a minute our “senior” US Senator who is on the intelligence committee stated that he doesn’t know what is wrong with our strategy in Iraq. That sounds exactly the problem to me. From day one there has been no congressional oversight of this war. And this from the guy who used UBL in a campaign ad to call a decorated Vietnam Vet unpatriotic. Chambliss is perhaps the worst Senator in the Senate and definitely an embarrassment to this state. Whether we elect another Republican, or Democrat, to his seat Georgia can do better.I applaud McCain for being a standup guy and wish we had a Senator like him in Georgia.
By Jim J
February 21, 2007 10:49 AM | Link to this
Saxby Chambliss is exactly the senator Georgia deserves. Bottom five in the nation in education, health care, infant mortality, etc., etc. Chambliss is just a product of the backwardness he grew up in and now wants to force on future generations of Georgians.
By Th
February 21, 2007 11:34 AM | Link to this
Next time you guys see Senator Chambliss, please ask him a few things for me. News reports of the new offensive in Baghdad show that we are fighting Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda cells in parts of the city and we raided the offices of Shia leader al-Sadr. My question is are we removing PM Maliki and his chief backer, Hakim’s opponents and rival in the case of Sadr? Does this not mean we are supporting the most pro-Iranian parts of the current government, and, in effect, creating a client state for the Iranian clerics? Is this what we call “victory?”
My other question is about charges made in an interview with al-Sadr in a British paper. He said there is a secret commando unit operating out of the US controlled Baghdad airport that specializes in kidnapping and assassinations. He also said there is a secret army training in the Jordanian desert. What are these for? Are we supporting and training death squads?