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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (108790)	7/29/2003 10:38:39 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The Left -- who are they? You mean ordinary citizens who are not in the pocket of your crowd, I assume. Anybody who looks at what is going on and does not like it must be "the Left". What is it, baloney week on the web?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (108790)	7/29/2003 10:53:43 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

It is disingenuous in the extreme to claim that Congress and the American people agreed to go to war for any other reason than to protect us what we were told was a real threat to our national security.

To: Brumar89 who wrote (108790)	7/29/2003 11:14:56 PM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

<<... several lawmakers said he was exaggerating Iraq's connections to terror groups. "We just haven't seen any proof of linkages between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda," said Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican who said Liberia had much clearer ties to terrorists. Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, said the administration should deal honestly with the situation in Iraq "instead of constantly trying to pretend that Sept. 11 and Iraq are the same issue.">> Senators Rap Administration on Iraq Policies Tue Jul 29, 2:36 PM ET By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senators from both parties on Tuesday assailed the Bush administration for not spelling out the costs of rebuilding Iraq (news - web sites), and for focusing on Iraq's role in terrorism to the exclusion of other threats. In sometimes testy exchanges with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also accused the administration of glossing over the problems of stabilizing Iraq and the long-term need for a major military presence. "Because of some combination of bureaucratic inertia, political caution and unrealistic expectations left over from the war, we do not appear to be confident about our course in Iraq," said Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, an Indiana Republican. "I think you're going to lose the American people if you don't come forward now and tell them what you know, that it's going to cost tens of billions of American taxpayers' dollars and tens of thousands of American troops for an extended period of time," said Sen. Joe Biden, a Delaware Democrat. Wolfowitz and White House budget director Joshua Bolten refused to budge from their stance that they cannot estimate costs because the situation in Iraq is too fluid. Bolten said "for the next couple of months" he expected costs of maintaining troops in Iraq will stay at about $4 billion per month, but would not predict beyond that. Lawmakers also pressed for information on U.S. efforts to get more international help in Iraq. Wolfowitz said he would welcome an official United Nations (news - web sites) role in providing peacekeeping forces. But he said, "Speed is of the essence here and the U.N. isn't always speedy." In lengthy remarks that centered on atrocities under toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), Wolfowitz cited progress in restoring basic services and in gaining the confidence of the people. Just back from a trip to Iraq, he called it the central battleground in the war on terrorism. "Right now it is where it's being fought and that's why these terrorists are coming in there," Wolfowitz said. "There is no doubt in my mind that we will be much more secure when we win this battle in Iraq." But several lawmakers said he was exaggerating Iraq's connections to terror groups. "We just haven't seen any proof of linkages between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda," said Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), a Rhode Island Republican who said Liberia (news - web sites) had much clearer ties to terrorists. Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, said the administration should deal honestly with the situation in Iraq "instead of constantly trying to pretend that Sept. 11 and Iraq are the same issue." story.news.yahoo.com

To: Brumar89 who wrote (108790)	7/30/2003 12:11:32 AM
From: NickSE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Interesting poll numbers out..... NEWSWEEK POLL biz.yahoo.com NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifty-nine percent of Americans say last week's killing of Saddam Hussein's two sons is unlikely to reduce the number of attacks on U.S. military personnel by Iraqis loyal to the deposed government, the latest Newsweek Poll shows. However, from what they know now, 68 percent of those polled think that the U.S. did the right thing in taking military action against Iraq last March. Sixty-nine percent say it's very important that the U.S. kill or capture Saddam Hussein and remove any serious doubts that he remains at large. Meanwhile, 82 percent of those polled think that Saddam Hussein is probably still alive. In response to the attacks on U.S. military personnel since major combat ended, a significant majority (71%) would support turning over some authority for rebuilding Iraq to the United Nations. However, Americans are more evenly split over whether troops should be withdrawn from Iraq (46% say they should; 49% disagree), but a majority of respondents to the Newsweek Poll says the number of military personnel in Iraq should not be increased (55% say no; 40% say they should). And 53 percent would support more aggressive action by U.S. forces to stop the violence, even if it meant greater risk of civilian casualties (40% disagree). When it comes to the continuing controversy over intelligence concerning Iraq, 56 percent of those polled think the Bush administration did not purposely mislead the public about evidence that Iraq had banned weapons in order to build support for war (39% think it did). And 49 percent of Americans think the Bush administration did not misinterpret or misanalyze intelligence reports they said indicated Iraq had banned weapons (41% think it did). Fifty-seven percent of those polled say that U.S. efforts to establish security and rebuild Iraq have gone either somewhat well (41%) or very well (16%). Twenty-six percent say that efforts to rebuild have gone not too well, while 14 percent say efforts have gone not at all well. The majority of those polled (61%) would support keeping large numbers of U.S. military in Iraq for less than two years; 31 percent want most troops home within one year, while 30 percent would support keeping them there for one to two years. And only 21 percent of Americans are very confident that the United States will successfully establish a stable democratic form of government in Iraq over the long term. The majority of Americans think that going to war with Iraq was the right thing to do despite the number of U.S. military personnel killed or injured (52%); reports about the long term costs of committing U.S. forces to rebuilding Iraq (51%); the fact that no banned chemical or biological weapons have been found so far (51%) and the Bush administration's admission that it was incorrect about Saddam Hussein's attempt to buy uranium in Africa (53%). Meanwhile, President George W. Bush's approval rating has risen slightly to 57 percent from 55 percent in the last Newsweek Poll, but remains significantly lower than the previous recent high of 71 percent (April). And the majority of Americans still approve of Bush's handling of the situation in Iraq (58%), while there is less support for his handling of the economy (48% disapprove; 43% approve). Fifty-two percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the federal budget deficit (34% approve) and 48 percent approve of his handling of taxes (45% disapprove). Sixty percent of those polled say Bush impresses them as being trustworthy (36% say he is not) and 72 percent say he impresses them as being able to get things done (25% disagree). Fifty-nine percent say their impression is that Bush is well-informed, while 36 percent disagree. With the release last week of a Congressional report on intelligence failures in the September 11 terror attacks, the overwhelming majority (72%) of Americans say they place "some" (53%) or "a lot" (19%) of blame on U.S. intelligence agencies like the C.I.A. and F.B.I. for the World Trade Center attacks. Twenty-three percent say U.S. intelligence agencies are not at all to blame for the attacks. For this Newsweek Poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates interviewed by telephone 1,002 adults aged 18 and older on July 24-25, 2003. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points. This poll is part of the August 4 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, July 28).