Hagel: ‘We Need To Find A New Strategy, A Way Out Of Iraq’
Hagel: ‘We Need To Find A New Strategy, A Way Out Of Iraq’
Today on CNN’s Late Edition, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered a blistering critique of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy.
Hagel said, “The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war.” He added, “So we need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East, Wolf, is more combustible than it’s been probably since 1948, and more dangerous, and we’re in the middle of it.” Watch it:
If Hagel is looking for a responsible way out of Iraq, he should take a look at the American Progress plan, Strategic Redeployment.
Transcript:
BLITZER: I don’t know about you, but I was pretty surprised by Senator Warner’s comments, given the fact that from day one he’s been an ardent supporter of the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq.
HAGEL: Well, I agree with Chairman Warner’s assessment. Carl essentially said the same thing. We are going to have to find a new strategy. Let’s start with this very clear understanding, and Carl noted it. The future of Iraq is going to be determined by the Iraqi people. It will not be determined here in Washington.
Now, that is a fact of life as far as I’m concerned, and we are now in a situation where we have very few options. Our options are limited. The American people are not going to continue to support, sustain a policy that puts American troops in the middle of a civil war.
Let’s also examine what the Iraqi parliament did about three days ago, when they voted to go ahead and allow the 18 provinces in Iraq to start thinking about breaking up into autonomous regions. Now, they can’t activate that for 18 months, but these are the kind of political decisions that are going to have to be made by the Iraqis. We do need to change some kind of course here.
Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton’s commission is going to come back in by the end of the year with some new recommendations. That’s a hopeful sign, finally, that we’re getting another point of view. Also, this issue is going to be forced upon us by the U.N. because by the end of this year, coalition forces, the legal mandate to have U.N. forces in there, including the United States, is up.
So we need to find a new strategy, a way out of Iraq, because the entire Middle East, wolf, is more combustible than it’s been probably since 1948, and more dangerous, and we’re in the middle of it.
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Ooooo flip flopper!
October 15th, 2006 at 6:53 pm[…] Original post by Judd Read More… […]
October 15th, 2006 at 6:54 pmChuck Hagel = Charlie Browns’ Teacher — when is he going to back up all his words of concern and smack GWB upside the head?!?!?!?!?!
Wa waaaa, wah wah wah wa wa waaaaaaa, wah wah.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:00 pmHow long before Fox News lists Hagel and Warner as Democrats?
Or are they part of a new breed of Republicutandruns?
I note that both of these Senators voted in favor of Bush’s Right to Torture Act (the Military Commissions Bill).
Latest on the Military Commissions Bill: it was presented to the President on 10/10/2006. (compare that to the same-day turn-around with the Schiavo legislation). This means Bush has until October 20 to sign his Torture Bill).
October 15th, 2006 at 7:05 pmWe need to pull out of Iraq and blow our load all over its back. Okay, that’ll be deleted in like five minutes.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:05 pmYeah, well you guys have got the talking done…
October 15th, 2006 at 7:06 pmElection year panic.
The GOP ship has sunk, and the rats are scattering.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:07 pmYeti,
Turning into “hellpig” now?
October 15th, 2006 at 7:08 pmWhy does Chuck Hagel hate our freedom, coddle Osama bin Laden, bring comfort to our enemies, side with the terrorist, and want to cut and run?
October 15th, 2006 at 7:10 pm8 - Helllll no. I just couldn’t resist being disgusting
October 15th, 2006 at 7:10 pmNo shit sherlock
http://www.theworstpresidentever.org
October 15th, 2006 at 7:11 pmThis guy always says good stuff, but then tows the party line in the end.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:14 pmNot only are we “in the middle of it”, but we also caused it. Isn’t it wonderful to have a homicidal idiot for a president? Gee, maybe he’ll f**k up Asia next by attacking North Korea.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:33 pmThat one’s EZ. Try torturing more suspects.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:47 pmThis guy is one dumb punk ass. He should just change parties now and become a Dumb-a-Crat@!
October 15th, 2006 at 7:47 pmHey Redneck REdState,
October 15th, 2006 at 7:53 pmShouldn’t you be on patrol? Saving Iraqis?
15 - A Dumbacratat? Too many -at’s, bro.
October 15th, 2006 at 7:59 pmRedNeck,
Clever! Got any more…?
October 15th, 2006 at 7:59 pmY’all crazy. Now I support the troops, but even I’m not dumber than a dead stump!
Iraq is way too F’n dangerous.
Besides, I just got a promotion at Bowens, so I’m doing a good thing here in Atlanta. (http://www.bowensseptictank.com/).
Just got back from Hawaii with the missus for our 10th anniversarry. It’s like a different country and parts of it are like American.
October 15th, 2006 at 8:01 pmRN
15 - Lemme guess, Larry the Cable Guy said it and you thought it was funny, right? Nice goin’, sling blade. Git ‘er done.
October 15th, 2006 at 8:03 pm19 - Awesome, you keep doin’ the Lords work.
October 15th, 2006 at 8:05 pmRedNeck literally shovels the shit for a living, comes up with really clever nicknames, and can find keys on a keyboard. Now we know everything we need to know about our new friend.
October 15th, 2006 at 8:08 pmWell thank you, I’m glad to be here, and may Jesus bless ya.
I heard both Mr. Hannity and O’Really talk about this particular website and thought ‘hey why not check it out and see if what they say is true or not’.
RN
October 15th, 2006 at 8:13 pmOf course, like all in his party, Hagel is a complete fraud:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0131-01.htm
October 15th, 2006 at 8:15 pm#24 - And now we know everything we need to know about Hagel Jeebus…
October 15th, 2006 at 8:26 pm24 - thanks for the link.
October 15th, 2006 at 8:27 pmHere’s how most Americans hear a typical George W. Bush speech.
The Bush Truth.
-GSD
October 15th, 2006 at 8:28 pmPerry Logan,
October 15th, 2006 at 8:34 pmYou would think these voting machines would be in the news every night or that Democrats would do more to increase awareness. In the end I’m sure the Democrats are better at rigging election machines than Republicans so I try not to think about it…
Isn’t this what liberals have been saying since before the war. As much as the MSM seems to enjoy blasting the “radical left” every chance they get - it seems we get it correct more often than anyone else.
October 15th, 2006 at 8:57 pm#29 -
Yea, silly us and our voice of reason. Dang us progressives for thinking things out, analyzing long term affects, and wanting to plan ahead.
We should be more like neoconservatives: Have knee jerk reactions, keep our head burried in sand, and only change course when the public polls show that most people think our ’strategy’ is crap.
October 15th, 2006 at 9:09 pm“Strategic Redeployment” = Retreat and defeat
October 15th, 2006 at 9:31 pm“Strategic Redeployment†= Retreat and defeat
Comment by TheTruthShallSetYouFree
He/She/It writes from the comfort of their living room….
October 15th, 2006 at 10:00 pmStrategic Redeployment is seriously flawed. Its authors contend that immediate withdrawal will “permanently destabilize Iraq”, ignoring the report of the National Intelligence Estimate, which says that the presence of the United States is responsible for the growing violence in Iraq. As Nir Rosen, an independent journalist who has been in Iraq has stated, if the United States were to finally leave Iraq, the resistance fighters would have nothing to resist against. This study believes that a “smaller, nimbe force… is necessary “to train Iraqi security forces.” There are already 300,000 trained Iraqis in the Iraqi military. What happened to the idea of standing down when they stand up? The authors also believe that American troops should be redeployed to “virtually zero by the end of 2007″ which could then mean that anywhere from 500 to a 1000 more Americans could end up dead for a cause that has been determined to be decidedly less than noble.
This study is ignoring the desires of the Iraqi people. A recent poll has revealed that a majority of Iraqis want the U.S. to stop occupying their country by withdrawing all its troops by the end of 2006. The bottom line is that Iraq does not belong to the United States. In order to save one more life, either American or Iraqi from dying unnecessarily, the U.S. should begin preparations to leave NOW and withdraw all its troops by the end of 2006. Redeploying those troops, to use Murtha’s expression, over the horizon, is not going to demonstrate to the Iraqis that the United States has no designs to reenter that country if it so chooses.
October 15th, 2006 at 10:18 pmchuck’s running for president.
all voters need to know is:
where was he four years ago?
October 15th, 2006 at 10:26 pmI heard both Mr. Hannity and O’Really talk about this particular website and thought ‘hey why not check it out and see if what they say is true or not’.
October 15th, 2006 at 10:33 pmRN
Comment by RedNeck,+REdState — October 15, 2006 @ 8:13 pm
Well we all know who this guy is,,don’t we?????????
By going out of your way to come up with the excuse that your boys told you about this site is a kinda going out of your way to tell us you haven’t been here before…nice one hellpig…
W has a small mind. To put it in perspective,, if you wanted to corner the market in tomatoes, W would take out all of the super markets in the country and then put up (substandardly constructed) stands that sell tomatoes all over. The people who formally had control of the super markets would get teed off and try to blow up the tomato stands. Net result is that no one has anything to eat and everyone is pissed off. That’s Iraq today, but with a different set of commodities.
October 15th, 2006 at 11:18 pm[…] Source and Hat Tip Think Progress […]
October 16th, 2006 at 12:35 am[…] Source and Hat Tip Think Progress […]
October 16th, 2006 at 12:38 am“100 cheap and easy ways to get out of Eye-Rack”
“The USA and the UK need to get out of Iraq now. Bush and Company seem to be snagged on just how to turn power over to the Iraqis. Here are some suggestions: 100 cheap and easy ways out of Iraq: Just do or say:
“Abandon ship, About-face, retreat, Aloha, Apologize for overstaying one’s welcome, and just leave, Auf weiderzahn, Au voir, Back out, Bail out, Beg off, Be Gone with the Wind, Blow it off, Blow the scene, Bow out, Break it off, Bring the troops home, Bug out, Butt out, Call a halt, Call it quits, Cancel plans, Cave in, Chalk it up to experience, Change the course, Chao, baby, Check out, Chicken out, Choke up, Clear out, Close up shop, Cop out, Creep away, Cut and run, Declare victory and come home, Depart, Desert the desert, Disentangle, Draw back, Drop out, Eat crow, Eat humble pie, Eat one’s words, End this fool’s errand, End this tomfoolery, Evacuate, Exit, stage far-right, Fail, Fall back, Flake out, Flee, Fly away, Fly the coop, Forsake, Get back, Get cold feet, Get out by sundown, Give up, Go away, Go fly a kite, Go jump in the lake, Good widdance to bad wubbish - (from Elmer Fudd cartoon), Got to get away, Hasta la vista, baby, Head for the hills, Hit the road, Homeward bound, Hurry home, It’s all over but the shouting, It’s all over now, baby blue, Just say no, Just walk away,
“Leave, Let’s call the whole thing off, Pack it in, Pick up your marbles and go home, Quit, Rehire Saddam, Relinquish control, Renounce imperialism, Retreat, Return home, Reverse the course, Sail away, Say good bye, Shut it down, So long, its been fun, Split, Stop, Stop rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic: abandon ship!, Surrender, Take a powder, Terminate the visit, Throw in the towel, Turn tail, Turn the lights out, Wilt under pressure, Wimp out, Wind down, Withdraw with honor, Yankee, come home”.
Yours truly,
James K. Sayre
October 16th, 2006 at 12:57 amIf Hagel had real balls, then he would vote to cut off all funding for the Iraq fiasco, but he talks big then backs down when Karl Rove calls him up! Time to pull all the troops out and who cares what Bush wants > he can go straight to Hell!
October 16th, 2006 at 1:21 amThis guy is one dumb punk ass. He should just change parties now and become a Dumb-a-Crat@!
Comment by RedNeck, REdState — October 15, 2006 @ 7:47 pm
Anybody else hear banjo music when reading this idgit’s post?
October 16th, 2006 at 2:57 amso hagel doesn’t want americans to be in the middle of an iraq civil war, the civil war the americans instigated.
October 16th, 2006 at 7:44 amthis speaks volumes about the lack of intelligence of the republicans, from the chimp, right on down the line.
#39…you missed one. 101 should be, “declare victory and return home.”
October 16th, 2006 at 8:32 amSadist George W Bush’s plan: vacate Iraq by attacking Iran - just move the troops to a new front.
October 16th, 2006 at 8:46 amHagel and Warner are moderates, but in the end, they are Republicans. They will present a moderate approach now because the election is near and the Iraq situation is worsening by the week. It will be interesting to see if they still talk the same after the elections. Warner is no intellectual, but he does have experience and influence in the Senate; Hagel will run for President. So right now each one has his own agenda - protect themselves and their Senate friends.
October 16th, 2006 at 10:02 amIf Bush loses his control on Capitol Hill, Bush will be the lamest of lame ducks and these guys and their friends will pay a price, so for now they are hedging and trying to appease those Republicans who might jump ship.
Both supported the “Patriot Act” and the Military Commissions act. Both are complicit in crimes against humanity and the death of our basic rights. Their second thoughts at this juncture does not undo the fact that they are traitors and enemies of the people.
October 16th, 2006 at 10:34 amI predict that the POTUS will receive the recommendations from the committee just before the election, welcome them with open arms, pretend that he will support their recommendations to take the Iraq heat off of the GOP temporarily, then dump the recommendations immediately after the election.
October 16th, 2006 at 10:45 am[…] Sen. John Warner (R-VA), one of President Bush’s staunchest allies, now says we are moving “sideways” and “backwards” in Iraq. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) agrees and says we need to find a way out. […]
October 16th, 2006 at 3:26 pm[…] Bush’s message to Maliki also ignores the advice from U.S. leaders from across the ideological spectrum — including Rep. John Murtha, Sens. Jack Reed, John Warner, Chuck Hagel to former Secretaries of State James Baker and Colin Powell — that staying the course is not an option and Iraq’s leaders need to take responsibility. […]
October 17th, 2006 at 10:51 amRuben
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March 14th, 2008 at 9:08 amBaby Sling
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March 30th, 2008 at 3:30 pmWilma
Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
March 31st, 2008 at 6:19 am