National Security Watch: Sen. Chuck Hagel criticizes President Bush's performance on Iraq
In an interview late last week with U.S. News Senior Writer Kevin Whitelaw, Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska blasted the Bush administration's performance in the Iraq operation, using some of his strongest language yet [Hit by friendly fire (6/27/05)]. "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse. The White House is completely disconnected from reality," he said. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is, we're losing in Iraq."
Below are additional excerpts from the Hagel interview:
On his relations with others in the GOP:
"I was probably the first senator questioning this before we even went in. I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican. When you talk about committing a nation to war and the consequences that follow, it's beyond party loyalty."
On mistakes made in Iraq:
"We didn't plan right, we didn't know what we were getting into, and we weren't prepared. It's borne out in what's going on and the mess that we're in today."
"We made basic mistakes going into Iraq from the beginning. We never had enough troops going in. We should have had at least double or triple. There was one bad decision after another. [One] bad decision was allowing Don Rumsfeld and the Pentagon to run postwar Iraq."
On Vice President Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes":
"I don't know where the vice president is getting his information from. It's not where I'm getting mine from. This administration at the top–the civilian leaders–is disconnected from what's going on."
On a bipartisan House bill calling for a timetable for withdrawal:
"When you see manifestations of that kind of doubt and concern being brought to the floor of the House, it's pretty clear what's going on. Many of my colleagues are very concerned and very worried. The American people keep going the other way on this. There is a clear manifestation of the concern and the doubt that's breaking out all over."
On what happens next:
"I think what we're in for is really framing up the next six months. You've got some absolutely critical deadlines that the Iraqi government and this government have committed to. Those timelines must be maintained."
"We are where we are. We're not going to go back and unwind all the bad decisions. I think we've got about six months. If things don't start to turn around in six months, then it may be too late. I think it's that serious."
On U.S. troops:
"We keep putting our forces who are over there in these impossible situations, asking them to do these impossible things when there's not enough force structure over there and there never was enough force structure."
"It's an absolute joke to say that we have a coalition of the willing."
advertisement
