Mephisto
Philosopher
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2005
- Messages
- 6,064
With Elections Looming, Lawmakers Must Reflect on Deaths in Iraq and Civil War
By Ed Wiley III, BET.com Staff Writer
Posted Aug. 28, 2006 – Reports of American deaths and overall civil unrest in Iraq could not have come at a worse time for the Bush administration, which has been stressing to Congress and the American public the need to stay the course.
By Sunday evening, at least 50 people – including six U.S. soldiers and seven American civilian contractors – had been killed by bombs or other violence in and around Baghdad, according to reports, and the number of troop deaths rose to a staggering 2,621 since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. In addition, there are rising concerns that Iraq has slipped into a full-blown civil war.
Tough Sell
With virtually no evidence that escalating troop deaths and military expenditures are reaping the promised positive results – and with President Bush’s approval rating at a dismal 42 percent – even congressional Republicans are finding it increasingly tough to sell their constituents on the belief that the current Iraq policy is the correct one.
One of the president’s staunchest supporters of the war in Iraq, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), just returning from his 14th trip to Iraq, told reporters that the time has come for the United States to ask for a “timeline” for when the “heavy lifting” can be turned over to Iraqi forces.
What Civil War?
Reports that a civil war is spinning out of control in Iraq is adding to mounting criticism that the Bush administration has lost its hold on events there. Roughly 80 percent of the Iraqi people say they would like the United States to withdraw now so that the nation can take a crack at righting itself. And Democrats, who say that civil war is further proof of the Bush administration’s poor intelligence and poor planning for a post-war Iraq, are stepping up their calls for withdrawal.
http://www.bet.com/News/electionsir...ferrer={03CE5360-2620-42CB-AD7E-77E4249C5FB7}
By Ed Wiley III, BET.com Staff Writer
Posted Aug. 28, 2006 – Reports of American deaths and overall civil unrest in Iraq could not have come at a worse time for the Bush administration, which has been stressing to Congress and the American public the need to stay the course.
By Sunday evening, at least 50 people – including six U.S. soldiers and seven American civilian contractors – had been killed by bombs or other violence in and around Baghdad, according to reports, and the number of troop deaths rose to a staggering 2,621 since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. In addition, there are rising concerns that Iraq has slipped into a full-blown civil war.
Tough Sell
With virtually no evidence that escalating troop deaths and military expenditures are reaping the promised positive results – and with President Bush’s approval rating at a dismal 42 percent – even congressional Republicans are finding it increasingly tough to sell their constituents on the belief that the current Iraq policy is the correct one.
One of the president’s staunchest supporters of the war in Iraq, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), just returning from his 14th trip to Iraq, told reporters that the time has come for the United States to ask for a “timeline” for when the “heavy lifting” can be turned over to Iraqi forces.
What Civil War?
Reports that a civil war is spinning out of control in Iraq is adding to mounting criticism that the Bush administration has lost its hold on events there. Roughly 80 percent of the Iraqi people say they would like the United States to withdraw now so that the nation can take a crack at righting itself. And Democrats, who say that civil war is further proof of the Bush administration’s poor intelligence and poor planning for a post-war Iraq, are stepping up their calls for withdrawal.
http://www.bet.com/News/electionsir...ferrer={03CE5360-2620-42CB-AD7E-77E4249C5FB7}
Who are you, Darth Rotor Yankovic? 