Posted by The Crux |
When Senator John Warner (R-VA) talks about about war, people listen because he's been familiar with the topic since grass started growing on Earth. Yesterday, Warner called on President Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by Christmas (Washington Post , NY Times, and The Hill).
Warner's statement came after he returned from a trip to Iraq (joined by Sen. Carl Levin) and after the U.S. intelligence community released its latest National Intelligence Estimate -- a mixed review of our nation's progress and prospects in Iraq (Washington Post has a pdf of the report).
Warner has an impressive vita, starting with service during World War II (Navy, 1945-6). He left law school in 1950 to join the Marines and fight in the Korean War. He was Secretary of the Navy from 1972-74, joined the U.S. Senate in 1979, became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2005, and is now the second-ranking Republican on that committee. (See Senate bio).
Warner has never been known as an anti-war senator, and he did support President Bush's stance on the Iraq war. Apparently, Warner's conclusions changed as events unfolded and information surfaced over the last four years.
It'll be interesting to see how the White-House linked group "Freedom's Watch" deals with Warner. The group has begun a $15 million campaign featuring factually questionable ads aimed at convincing the public and war-skeptical congressmen to support President Bush's questionable strategies .
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