www.thehill.com/news/102903/gopunity.aspx
To set up roadblocks after the bomb goes off is not the answer, he said. The number of attacks on United States forces has increased to about 30 a day in recent weeks, and a series of apparently coordinated attacks rocked Baghdad on Monday. Another attack targeted the a-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying. McCain is often among those Republicans most willing to criticize the administration although he often refrains from doing so on military and foreign policy matters. But other Republicans joined him in raising questions about United States tactics.
Lott suggested moving more troops from the relatively stable south closer to the region around Tikrit, where attacks on United States forces have been common. He said there was a need for more trained military police, adding that his comments were not a criticism. Honestly, its a little tougher than I thought it was going to be, Lott said. In a sign of frustration, he offered an unorthodox military solution: If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens. Youre dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we need to be very aggressive in taking them out. Republicans fear they could suffer in the polls if the situation does not improve, since the administrations Iraq policy is so closely associated with Bush.
But I, at least at this point, am convinced that were doing the right thing, and were doing the best we can. John Cornyn R-Texassaid the situation in Iraq will continue to be a political issue because it will continue to be a matter of public concern as long as there are any casualties. Results so far had been mixed, he said and cited the recent conference in Madrid which secured loans and pledges to help rebuild Iraq, as well as passage of a new United States Security Council resolution. What I worry about most is that we will simply lose our resolve, and we wont finish the job, he added. GOP criticisms have emerged only recently and no Republican has come close to statements by retired Gen. Wesley Clark and other Democrats that the administration has no plan for Iraq.
In a sign of the administrations ability to secure GOP unity, Brownback acknowledged that he probably lacked the votes for a compromise plan to provide some aid to Iraq in the form of loans an idea the White House opposes. The opposition, the terrorist groups, the Baathists read our media and read our public opinion polls, and are trying to play to the countrys opinion, he said. Brownback even said United States adversaries were using attacks to drive down support for Bush. Bush, who was criticized on the Hill yesterday for saying that attacks in Iraq were a sign United States progress and the terrorists desperation, was resolute at a White House press conference.
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