Boehner Acknowledges GOP Nervous on Iraq
House Minority Leader John Boehner Acknowledges GOP Nervousness About Iraq Troop Increase
By LIBBY QUAID
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON
The House Republican leader said Sunday that GOP support could waver if President Bush's Iraq war policy does not succeed by the fall.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Bush's troop increase deserves a chance and should be funded even if benchmarks for success are not met. Last week, Bush vetoed a $124 billion bill to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan operations in part because it required troops to begin returning home by Oct. 1.
A senior House Democrat said it would be "ridiculous" not to condition war money on progress in Iraq. Bush and his supporters say a fixed date is unworkable.
"We don't even have all of the 30,000 additional troops in Iraq yet, so we're supporting the president. We want this plan to have a chance of succeeding," Boehner said.
"Over the course of the next three to four months, we'll have some idea how well the plan's working. Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a number of fronts," he said.
(Continued here.)
By LIBBY QUAID
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON
The House Republican leader said Sunday that GOP support could waver if President Bush's Iraq war policy does not succeed by the fall.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Bush's troop increase deserves a chance and should be funded even if benchmarks for success are not met. Last week, Bush vetoed a $124 billion bill to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan operations in part because it required troops to begin returning home by Oct. 1.
A senior House Democrat said it would be "ridiculous" not to condition war money on progress in Iraq. Bush and his supporters say a fixed date is unworkable.
"We don't even have all of the 30,000 additional troops in Iraq yet, so we're supporting the president. We want this plan to have a chance of succeeding," Boehner said.
"Over the course of the next three to four months, we'll have some idea how well the plan's working. Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a number of fronts," he said.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
I watched John Boehner on FOX Sunday and he advocated benchmarks without timetables or consequences … which equated to me as metrics. This is a smokescreen much like reporting the number of Iraqis trained … a big difference between a “trigger pullers” and having a combat unit(s) with capabilities and support.
That aside, Boehner was quizzed about the Iraqi Parliament’s decision to take a two month vacation starting July 1st. He expressed mild disappointment and stated that sometimes politicians need “district” time. Boehner needs to monitor the Iraqi Parliament a little closer … they many times do not have enough members in session to have a quorum … it is not uncommon for members to boycott sessions … some members frequently are out of the country (due to safety concerns). This is a shell of a government with a fractured parliament composed of too many small parties and any minor challenge could cause the PM al-Maliki coaltion to disband. There are two major objectives that need to be resolved and both have major problems.. The oil unions, some Sunni and Shiite parliamentarians and even one of the orginal authors of the proposed oil revenue sharing law have now come out against its passage link And more importantly the De-Ba'athification issue must be resolved and the Shiites do not seem to want to allow those people back.
But the part that bugs me the most about Boehner was his instance that al-Qaeda is the problem in Iraq. IF that was the case, why have the Brits determined that they can drawdown their troops and leave? al-Qaeda is more of a threat in France, the UK, Morocco, the Philippines, Somalia, Pakistan, and of course, Afghanistan than in the US homeland. Every day there are more attacks and murders … this is a civil war … and until the Shiites agree to improving relationships with the Sunnis and ex-Baathists, the civil war will continue. The key is resolving the poltical situation then the Sunnis and ex-Baathits will turn on any al-Qaeda left in the country.
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