Hit By "Friendly Fire"

[Gimpy]

A true American Patriot, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (a thorn in SuperFellas' side... ) tells it like it is!

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Hit by friendly fire

With his polls down, Bush takes flak on Iraq from a host of critics--including some in his own party

By Kevin Whitelaw --- U.S.News & World Report


Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. He's upset about the more than 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Iraq.

He's also aggravated by the continued string of sunny assessments from the Bush administration, such as Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes." "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," Hagel tells U.S. News. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."


That's strikingly blunt talk from a member of the president's party, even one cast as something of a pariah in the GOP because of his early skepticism about the war. "I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican," he says. Today, he notes, things are changing: "More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned."


Indeed, there are signs that the politics of the Iraq war are being reshaped by the continuing tide of bad news. Take this month in Iraq, with 47 U.S. troops killed in the first 15 days. That's already five more than the toll for the entire month of June last year.

With the rate of insurgent attacks near an all-time high and the war's cost set to top $230 billion, more politicians on both sides of the aisle are responding to opinion polls that show a growing number of Americans favoring a withdrawal from Iraq.

Republican Sens. Lincoln Chafee and Lindsey Graham have voiced their concerns. And two Republicans, including the congressman who brought "freedom fries" to the Capitol, even joined a pair of Democratic colleagues in sponsoring a bill calling for a troop withdrawal plan to be drawn up by year's end. "I feel confident that the opposition is going to build," says Rep. Ron Paul, the other Republican sponsor and a longtime opponent of the war.


Sagging polls .

The measure is not likely to go anywhere, but Hagel calls it "a major crack in the dike." Whether or not that's so, the White House has reason to worry that the assortment of critiques of Bush's wartime performance may be approaching a tipping point.

Only 41 percent of Americans now support Bush's handling of the Iraq war, the lowest mark ever in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll. And the Iraq news has combined with a lethargic economy and doubts about the president's Social Security proposals to push Bush's overall approval ratings near all-time lows.

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[colmurph]

There are more murders in the US in one week than the total number of KIA's in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. It's funny that I don't hear anybody screaming about that and I don't see either political party doing anything to stop the traffic in illegal drugs that is fueling the murders.

[blues clues]

murph, When I read the things thyat you write I find that you never say anything all you do is talk in circles you never address anything that is being said you are weird very weird.

razz

[SuperScout]

razz, I read your posts and all I see is a string of words without any punctuation or noun/subject agreement or proper spelling or anything else and you are even stranger.

[blues clues]

scot didn't know I was back in school , So I write like I talk sorry I'm not as smart as you think you are. have a nice day.


razz

[Gimpy]

Razz, I read their posts and all I see is a string of words without any facts, truth or anything else except bias, prejudice, hate, and misinformation to support their arguements and THEY are even stranger.