Republican dissension on Iraq

Thanks to Minnesota Central for this tip. He points out that Richard Lugar and John Warner are both Navy veterans. Warner also served in the Marine Corps Reserve for 10 years.

John Boehner served in the Navy for eight weeks in 1968.

Boehner calls anti-surge GOP senators 'wimps'

By Jackie Kucinich, The Hill
July 11, 2007

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) called for comity Wednesday during a meeting of the Republican Conference after House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) referred to Senate colleagues who have begun to favor a change in course in Iraq as “wimps.”

Wilson declined to comment directly on what Boehner had said during the closed-door meeting, but she noted that “Senator [Richard] Lugar’s (R-Ind.) speech was one of the more thoughtful speeches [she had heard] in the Senate in a long time.”

The lawmaker added that the war and the thoughts of her colleagues about the conflict “should always be taken seriously.”

Wilson, a former Air Force officer and Republican centrist, questioned the Bush plan to increase troop levels in Iraq but voted against Democratic-backed Iraq war measures.

According to sources, Boehner and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) were urging solidarity among House Republicans, explaining that they must distinguish themselves from their Senate colleagues.

The article is here.