On the Senate floor Thursday night, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) said Bush’s Iraq policy “may even be criminal.” This morning on ABC’s This Week, Smith elaborated on his criticism of Bush, calling his Iraq policy a “dereliction” and “deeply immoral.” Smith said the death of ten soldiers on Wednesday made him go from “steamed to boiled” about Bush’s failed policies.
Watch it:
Transcript:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Smith, let me begin with you. That was clearly a deeply personal speech, and it showed a dramatic change of heart. What triggered it?
SMITH: Waking up the other morning and turning on the news, and hearing that yet another ten of our soldiers died the same way that several thousand have —
STEPHANOPOULOS: Wednesday.
SMITH: Wednesday, to roadside bombs. I went from steamed to boiled, and I felt I had to speak out because if we’re going to be there, let’s win. If we’re not, let’s at least fight the war on terror in a way that makes sense.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You said in that speech that current policy may be criminal.
SMITH: I said it. You can use any adjective you want, George. But I have long believed in a military context, when you do the same thing over and over again, without a clear strategy for victory, at the expense of your young people in arms, that is dereliction. That is deeply immoral.
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