Posted by The Crux |
The most concisely answered question during yesterday's hearings about the Iraq war came from Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV): Was there a connection between the 9/11 attacks and Iraq?
General David Petraeus' answer: "Not that I am aware of, Senator" (CSPAN video). President Bush said something similar in September 2003, six months after the Iraq invasion: "We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in the September 11 attacks" (BBC).
Unlike the House, where Petraeus and Crocker testified Monday, the Senate wasn't sharply divided along party lines. In fact, some of the toughest questions and statements came from Republicans....
Sen. John Warner (R-VA), widely regarded as a national-security guru, asked Petraeus if staying in Iraq would make the U.S. safer, to which Petraeus answered that he believes it is the best way to achieve the nation's (i.e., President Bush's) goals in Iraq.
Warner re-asked the unanswered question: will it make the U.S. safer? Petraeus said that he didn't
know. (The Hill)
That's a frightening answer, coming from someone who is arguing that
our nation needs to continue committing lives and money to the Iraq war.
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NB), a combat veteran, focused on the Iraqi government's failures -- compelling Crocker to admit:
"there is an enormous amount of dysfunctionality in Iraq" (Washington Post). Referring to differences between Petraeus' report and other recent reports on Iraq's progress, Hagel said "We've got too many disconnects here, General, way too many disconnects."
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) asked a crucial question -- whether the U.S. even can help a nation mired down in civil war:
“Do Iraqis want to be Iraqis? Is there sufficient room for national reconciliation when many Sunnis continue to see their political pre-eminence as a birthright, and most Shiites believe that their numerical superiority and their oppression they suffered under Saddam Hussein give them the right to dominate the new Iraq?” (NY Times)
Even Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who hasn't spoken out against President Bush's war strategies, implied that the Iraq invasion had been a mistake, stating that the U.S. had been “unprepared politically and militarily for the task” (The Hill). Referring to the costs and length of the war, DeMint also said that the American people had gotten "more than they bargained for."
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) started by praising the proposed troop drawdown, then turned on Petraeus:
“Can we get a longer-term vision? Can we get a longer-term plan? I think we need something a little more than ‘Give us more time to come back again in the fall.’"
You can see the hearings on CSPAN.
Comments