Rep. Shays (R-CT): To Succeed In Iraq, We Need A Timetable For Withdrawal
Rep. Shays (R-CT): To Succeed In Iraq, We Need A Timetable For Withdrawal
Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) is the latest member of Congress to advocate a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq. Shays has visited Iraq 14 times. This morning on Fox, he said that the way for the United States to succeed in Iraq is to “incentivize the Iraqis” to take control of their own country. The way to do that, according to Shays, is to let them know “there is a limit to our presence there.”
Shays noted that previous timelines — to hold elections and create a constitution — are what has spurred the greatest progress in Iraq. Watch it:
Transcript:
BRIAN KILMEADE: Our next guest was once an intense supporter of the war in Iraq. Now he says we should set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. How about next year?
GRETCHEN CARLSON: Congressman Chris Shays is in London with us, He’s wrapping up a Congressional delegation trip that including trips to Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Darfur and Rome. Good to see you Congressman. You’re calling for a troop withdrawal from Iraq right now which is against what you used to say, which is that you were in full support of the war. Reelection coming up for you.
REP. CHRIS SHAYS: I am in full support.
CARLSON: Is this because it’s become increasingly more apparent according to some that it may be difficult to win elections now with current status on Iraq?
SHAYS: First off, i’m getting an echo, if you could turn off the echo. The bottom line to this is I want us to succeed in iraq. I’m a strong supporter of the war and the question is how do we do that? I’ve been there 14 times, and what i’m seeing since January of this year is I’m not seeing the political will on the part of the Iraqis. They spent four to five months to get a government. You have a new government that’s been in office about three months, and yet they haven’t set time lines on when they’re going to have provisional elections; they haven’t set time lines on when they’re going to have reconciliation; they haven’t set time lines on constitution. My judgment based on my last two visits is they’re happy to stretch this out forever, and in my judgment, we need to incentives the Iraqis. They need to know, there is a limit to our presence there.
KILMEADE: You think that they would want us there one day longer than we have to be?
SHAYS: Oh, absolutely. I think this new government is very happy to have their office. I think they feel it’s difficult for Sunnis and Shias to negotiate. They want it done in the Middle East way, which is taking a long time. They were very critical of the deadlines we set for them, but think of what was accomplished, from June of ‘04, a new government set up, then they elected — had a constitutional election for people to create a constitution in January of ‘05, they created a constitution, ratified that constitution by October ‘05, then they created a new elected government by the end of that year — in 11 months and they don’t want to go on that kind of timetable, but they he need to. The bottom line from what I’m seeing is we’ve seen really no progress since January because they’re willing to just keep stretching it out.
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Jeesh Mr. Shays, another Republican the is equivocating on a previously firm stand just before the election in blue-state Connecticut.
What a friggin’ flip-flopper.
-GSD
August 25th, 2006 at 9:46 amSo, is this an example of a return to sanity, or is this just another example of throwing the unpopular president under the bus in a bid to curry favor with the increasingly disenchanted Republican voters?
August 25th, 2006 at 9:47 amOuch! What’s his fellow Republican Lieberman going to say about this turncoat?
August 25th, 2006 at 9:48 amThe war in Iraq has been raging for 3 1/2 years. Where in the hell has Shays been? Oh, we are about 75 days from an election. How gullible does Shays take the voters in Connecticut to be.
Then read what Shays actually said. His words lack conviction. They ring hollow. Tough election indeed.
August 25th, 2006 at 9:55 amcut ‘n run Amurka hater
August 25th, 2006 at 9:56 amGlad he’s seeing the light, regardless of how he got there. Maybe he can talk some sense into Holy Joe.
August 25th, 2006 at 9:57 amGee, do we love the smell of bruning Republican campaign this morning???
August 25th, 2006 at 9:58 amI plan on taking back by my French kiss that I gave to Chris Shays while on thecampaign trail!
-Joe Lieberdouchebag
August 25th, 2006 at 10:00 amIt looks to me like this guy is trying to imply that the duration of the US occupation is the fault of the Iraq government.
August 25th, 2006 at 10:06 amJust a few days after his half-wit punk of a leader said
‘as long as I’m the . . . the imposter . . . . err I mean decider . . . . we’ll be in Iraq’.
I dont see the words “cut and run” in any of the passages of this interview
Hmmmm whats the difference ………
August 25th, 2006 at 10:18 amcurious – what’s with the “digg it” ? anyone?
August 25th, 2006 at 10:26 amBut what about Freedom Fries and Freedom Agenda Operation Freedom Freedom Freedom Freedom…?
August 25th, 2006 at 10:34 amKaty,
There was a thread about it a day or two ago. It’s blue like a ThinkFast thread, so it’s easy to miss. I’m feeling old and cranky because I really don’t get the Digg it thing.
August 25th, 2006 at 10:35 amThat Shays, I knew he was a pinko from the beginning. Panyt-waist cowardly-lion lib commie ftuit – we’ll take one Lieberman for 5 Shays any day.
August 25th, 2006 at 10:40 amDigg it – it’s a clearinghouse of quotes that you can post to. They had a thread a few days ago here on TP.
August 25th, 2006 at 10:42 amHe was for it before he was against it?
August 25th, 2006 at 10:42 amI like Shay, he’s more of a Conservative that Radical Right winger.
Think he’ll be attacked for advocating “Cut And Run”??
August 25th, 2006 at 11:03 am“Incentivize”? Does that mean something similar to “Vietnamize”? Why are we paying attention to this drivel?
August 25th, 2006 at 11:04 amThat Shays, I knew he was a pinko from the beginning. Panyt-waist cowardly-lion lib commie ftuit – we’ll take one Lieberman for 5 Shays any day.
Comment by Karl Rove —
I just love to laugh at the Republican tough talk.
Hey Karl, he’s an Aryan and only looks pink because of his purity of his race. But as far as republicans being pinko commies I must agree.
Besides, K.. K.. Karl, You should be embracing your Aryan white American brethren instead of embracing those intellectual jewish liberals!!
August 25th, 2006 at 11:04 am“And the Ayatollah bought a nuclear warship if he dies he wants to go out in style”
Lou Reed , Sick of You, New York, 1989
August 25th, 2006 at 11:06 amBring them home!
August 25th, 2006 at 11:12 amAnother Republican who, when it comes down to it, believes in nothing. Shays goes with whatever position lands him the most votes instead of being a good American and voting his conscience(hard to do though cause most Republicans have no conscience).
August 25th, 2006 at 11:12 amHow can we have so many stories be different coming from media? We all know there is just one story or the media thinks we are total idiots.
This a*sclown say violence is down in Iraq –
Ann Hitler/Coulter says things are going swimmingly (what a p*ssy word) in Afghanistan, then storms off the set when confronted.
Enuff is enuff. Why can’t anyone get air time to tell these as*holes to shut the f*ck up?
August 25th, 2006 at 11:20 amThese tell the true story: http://www.peace-not-war.org/Images/index.html
August 25th, 2006 at 11:33 amThe reporter tried to do a pre-emptive attack and label Shays as a flip-flopping, election whore before he stated his position about the time-table. Even though Shays probably is a flip-flopping, election whore, what he says about the need for a time-table is logical and sound. The FOX team probably hates to hear the message and, again, tries to attack the messanger. We need to support the message, no matter the source or sincerity! (Of course, we don’t necessarily have to support the messanger in the voting booth).
August 25th, 2006 at 11:44 amI love the sound of republicans flip-flopping in the morning!
August 25th, 2006 at 11:52 amyo blair! stay the course
August 25th, 2006 at 11:56 amHere is a little more about Chris Shays. He was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and served in the Peace Corps in the Fiji Islands. Not surprising, he’s turned 180 degrees since becoming a Republican politican and is one the biggest hawks supporting Bush’s War in Iraq.
So much so, that The Hartford Courant noted on June 11, 2006 that Congressman Shays was putting his political life on the line over Iraq. “My hero is Churchill,” Shays said then. “Churchill was willing to be on the back bench about the Nazi threat. I don’t believe that this would even be a close election [for me] if it wasn’t for Iraq. I accept that. If I lost over Iraq, I would be unhappy; but I would live with the knowledge that I’ve taken what I believe to be the right stand. The war in Iraq is a noble effort we can’t afford to lose.”
This about face over Iraq and vocal damage control is because the Democratic candidate, Diane Farrell, is running a stong campaign against Shays and he’s about to get his royal ass kicked in November by Farrell.
Still, to give him his due he is considered a RINO: he is in favor of gun control, was against the Bush administration for intervening in the Terri Schiavo case, and was one of very few Republicans in Congress to openly take on House Majority Leader Tom Delay for alleged ethics violations.
Bye bye, Chris. You picked the wrong war to stand up for. Give my regards to Joe, will ya?
August 25th, 2006 at 12:07 pm…Huh. I wonder what could have possibly happened to make a man in Connecticut suddenly change his mind about the war?
August 25th, 2006 at 1:03 pmHave enough republicans called for withdrawl that we can start to call them the “cut and run” party also?
August 25th, 2006 at 1:05 pmWell, seems like many Republicans hate America and want the US to lose in Iraq too…
August 25th, 2006 at 1:15 pmWhy do republicans hate everyone except themselves?
August 25th, 2006 at 1:25 pmI’m not so sure this is an election year ploy by Shays. He got my respect prior to the Senate’s vote to remove Clinton from office after the impeachment. Shays was undecided on how to vote and went home and held a town-hall meeting with several hundred of his constituents to get their opinions. The event was broadcast on C-SPAN. He was very professional and allowed the folks to speak their minds.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:31 pmDid anyone catch the phrase Gretchen Carlson used in the 2nd paragraph of the transcript?
“Right now” as in “immediate” or “cut and run”?
Or “right now” as in “You are at this point in time calling for a troop withdrawal…”?
August 25th, 2006 at 1:34 pmClintons impeachment – now that calls for big attention, how many people died from that incident? Repugasses can’t get that blowjob out of their porn based minds….
August 25th, 2006 at 1:39 pmWell, JustJohn, since I’m the only one in 38 postings that brought up the impeachment, I assume you are referring to me as a “Repugass.”
I am not. I’m just pointing out that Shays may not be, to borrow your term, the Repugass that most people think he is.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:46 pmGlad to see people are coming around to Murtha’s original plan.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:53 pmGlad to see people are coming around to Murtha’s original plan.
Comment by Five of Diamonds
Hummh. Now there is some real food for thought.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:58 pmGotta love F**ks and Friends.
I love how she was trying to put words in his mouth, and how she attacked him, for being a traitor to the republican cause.
August 25th, 2006 at 2:09 pm[...] Rep. Shays (R-CT): To Succeed In Iraq, We Need A Timetable For Withdrawal Rep. Shays (R-CT): To Succeed In Iraq, We Need A Timetable For Withdrawal Quote: [...]
August 25th, 2006 at 4:00 pmWhatya know. A republican with a plan and a conscience. He must be worried about losing his seat to a Dem so he’s going to distance himself from the neocons as best he can. Good luck Mr Shays.
August 25th, 2006 at 8:22 pmYep, this was Murtha’s idea a long time ago.
August 25th, 2006 at 8:24 pmNUKES FOR PEACE?
My sense is that mankind is approaching a collective epiphany, such as: is there no one in the cockpit of the good ship America that ever, ever, ever contemplates setting a course for peace.
August 26th, 2006 at 12:37 amDo we bomb Iran? Do we use nukes? Should we take out Syria? Are there no course maps, no policies available that don’t engender hate, fear and the ‘rule of brutality.’
We need to bear arms and defend ourselves but if the radar has no reading for a someday world of peace we will not get there.
Consider that the US will not hold discussions at any level with Iran or Syria. In a world where a cell phone and a cup of liquid can cause untold horror who in their right mind thinks destroying sovereign nations who already detest us is best for making the world safer? It seems plain nuts.
Somebody needs to tell Kristol and Cheney to shut their yaps for at least a few minutes each day to see if there is not some alternative to incinerating a goodly chunk of humanity in the name of self defense.
Not to be all Buddhist like, but there simply has to be some middle road short of ‘War-mageddon.’
A US BACKED IRAQI GOVERNMENT IS AN OXYMORON
August 26th, 2006 at 12:46 amThe Iraqis need to have a sense of nation, of nationalism, to form a lasting government. A US backed government is anathematical to the good Iraqi souls who just demonstrated openly in favor of Hezbollah.
Loosely paraphrased Murtha’s message is: “We are the enemy: we are the problem: they’re shooting at us and those perceived to be our lackeys.â€
Tis time to go.
A US backed Iraqi government, acceptable to an Iraqi nation, is an oxymoron. Completing the mission is up to the Iraqis: praise Allah and good luck: “what can we do to help?â€
[...] Pachacutec / Firedoglake: Who Will Be First to Call for Joe’s Official Expulsion? Mark Pazniokas / Hartford Courant: Joe Down Low On Ballot Judd / Think Progress: Rep. Shays (R-CT): To Succeed In Iraq, We Need A Timetable For Withdrawal Steve Soto / The Left Coaster: Afternoon Quick Hits – Another Shot At Hillary From A 90’s Mudslinger Chris Bowers / MyDD: CT-Sen: Lieberman refuses to back Democratic candidates Ron Beasley / Middle Earth Journal: If this isn’t enough…… Tparty / LamontBlog: Lieberman To Campaign With Rob Simmons (R) Today spazeboy: Lamont Acts Blue, Lieberman Acts Republican [...]
August 26th, 2006 at 5:15 pmAmerican deaths in Iraq, Afghan wars approach 9/11 toll LIES LIES LIES America Civillian contractors in this Statement dont count otherwise a lot more killed than 9/11
2,973 victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
2622 American troops killed in Iraq
333 American troops killed in Afghanistan
237 America civilian contractors killed in Iraq
= 3192 Total Americans Killed
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
230 Coalition troops killed in Iraq
August 27th, 2006 at 3:43 pm112 Coalition troops killed in Afghanistan
211 Coalition civilian contractors killed in Iraq
What does Joe say about this? From crooksandliars.com:
Classic. Just…classic.
August 27th, 2006 at 6:22 pm[...] Mehlman was asked if his rhetoric applied to fellow conservative Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), who recently announced his support for his timeline. Mehlman said he “saw him interviewed on this show, Chris Shays, and he, in fact, said something very different…he did not say there ought to be a military timeline.” [...]
August 31st, 2006 at 4:22 pm[...] seat to anti-war challenger Diane Farrell (D), Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) suddenly announced that he supported setting a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Shays won the race by 3 [...]
February 15th, 2007 at 1:07 pm