Oregon Senator Gordon Smith is running for re-election in 2008. Perhaps because of the views of his constituency, he has apologized for his vote in 2002 authorizing George Bush to invade Iraq.On 11-Jul-07, Senator Smith became the lead Republican co-sponsor behind the Levin amendment in the Senate that would put U.S. troops on a glide path out of Iraq, allowing for greater focus on combating terrorists.
We need to be fighting terrorists not civil wars. Iraq’s peace is one they must win on their own; we cannot win it for them. Our might should be focused on stopping terrorists who are plotting to bring harm to the United States. . . .
Underpinning the current course and the argument of many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle is the hope, the predicate, that at the end of the road there will be an Iraqi government that will govern effectively and democratically. I believe President Bush's formulation, that we will stand down when they can stand up, is backwards. I come to that conclusion, based on numerous trips to Iraq, that they will not stand up until we begin standing down.
Senator Smith recently toured Iraq with Senator McCain, but he certainly came away with different views:What I have learned firsthand is that Americans have no comprehension of the complexity, the factionalism, and the intensity of hatred that exists in some parts of the Middle East. On top of the factionalism, there are ancient sectarian strifes which produced a low-grade civil war that we cannot win, and which is not ours to win. It is theirs to win.14 months early, I am projecting Gordon Smith's reelection in 2008.
. . . . My fear is that what our presence and current posture are doing is simply keeping a civil war at a low-grade level. Civil wars end in one of two ways: one side wins and the other loses, or they fight it out until they figure it out. My fear is that we delay the day for them figuring it out with our current posture.
. . . . We cannot want democracy more for them than they want it for themselves, and what they seem bent on is an ethnic cleansing of their neighborhoods, a religious division. Ultimately, those are their decisions, not ours. But as long as we say we will take the bullet first, they will let us.
OOOOps!
Erratum Maximus!I have been in error!
Because of comments by readers (see below), I rescind any positive comments above!
Never trust a politician to tell the 'truth'.
ReplyDeleteIt is doubtful that this person is doing any thing other than following the latest focus group, and catering to dumbed down public opinion.
Reading his statement, he seems to be mouthing only, a different set of platitudes.
Vigilante, Republicans are 1% redeemable.
ReplyDeleteAs are Democrats, but I think that is cutting them a lot of slack Boris.
ReplyDeleteVig, I hate to bust your bubble, but this is a subject on which I have a little expertise, as Gordon Smith is my Senator, and I have tracked his votes for years.
ReplyDeleteHe faces reelection this year in one of the most progressive states in the nation. Therefore he has to try to paint himself as a moderate, which he clearly is not. His technique is pretty simple. He waits in the wings until he sees how the vote is going. If it becomes clear that his vote will not matter, he casts a progressive vote, but whenever the Reich needs his vote in a close issue, he goose-steps right behind his Fuhrer. For example, in the cloture votes over guaranteeing out troops time between deployments, establishing time-lines, and censuring Bush, he help the GOP prevent an up or down vote. Don't be fooled by his rhetoric. It's just attempt to keep his job.
Boris, Republicans are 99% COGS!
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about this guy so I'll leave it alone but I will admit that western state repubs are often a very different fish than midwestern or eastern repubs. In the west it's usually all about the money and little or nothing to do with social values.
ReplyDeleteTom Cat, you are slaughtering Vigil's slender reed of bi-partisan hope with your gang of brutal facts.
ReplyDeleteOn bipartisan hopes:
ReplyDeleteLouis Black:
What's worse than Democrats and Republicans?
Democrats and Republicans working together!
"I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal," declared Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), a 10-year veteran of the Senate, in a speech last night. [December 7, 2006]
ReplyDeleteSpeech is here.
Too bad he can't admit that the invasion was a mistake. He still has blinders on.
B4f, facts have a nasty way of showing up the 26 percenters.
ReplyDeleteVig, I'm sure that someday you'll succeed in your quest to find an honest GOPer. May I respectfully suggest that to do so, you need to aim lower in the GOP food chain. The Dog Catcher level sounds about right. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Vigilante, I salute your efforts toward peace and understanding...too bad there isn't any of that among Republicans (I'm not fully serious).
ReplyDelete