White House "disconnected from the reality" of Iraq
Two U.S. Republican lawmakers have criticized President Bush's administration's Iraq policy, saying that the White House is "disconnected from the reality" and should tell the American public the reality in Iraq.
"Things (in Iraq) aren't getting better; they're getting worse," Senator Chuck Hagel said in an interview with the U.S. News and World Report, to be published next week.
"The White House is completely disconnected from reality," the Nebraska Republican added. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."
Hagel's remarks are the most direct criticism of Bush's Iraq policy to date from a member of Bush's own Republican party.
"I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican," he said, but noted that things are changing saying that "More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned."
On Sunday, Republican Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called on the Bush administration to tell Americans the reality in Iraq.
In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" he said that the American people often have been told that "we are at a turning point" in Iraq.
"What the American people should have been told and should be told ... it's long; it's hard; it's tough," McCain said.
"It's going to be at least a couple more years," he added.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted that the fighting put up by the rebels is in its "last throes," but continuing violence in Iraq underscores the unabated bloodshed.
Although there are some hopeful signs in Iraq, Cheney's characterization was inaccurate, McCain said.
"I don't think Americans believe that we should cut and run out of Iraq by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "But I think they also would like to be told, in reality, what's going on," he said.
CIA Director Porter Goss,said that though Cheney's assessment was not quit accurate it was not too far off-mark.
"I think they're not quite in the last throes, but I think they are very close to it," Goss told Time magazine in an interview.
But Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Goss' statement did not line up with what he heard on a recent visit to Iraq.
"I wish Porter Goss would speak to his intelligence people on the ground," Biden said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"They didn't suggest at all it was near its last throes. Matter of fact it's getting worse, not better," Biden said.
Another critic of the administration's policy of not speaking the truth added his voice.
Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said on ABC's "This Week": "It's important the administration quit trying to pretend everything is going very well here. It's not."
Recent polls showed that support among American citizens for Bush's Iraq policy have slumped to their lowest ever point and numerous lawmakers, including some Republicans, have accused him of not offering honest assessments about the strength of the anti-occupation fighters and the slow pace of training Iraq forces.
"Things (in Iraq) aren't getting better; they're getting worse," Senator Chuck Hagel said in an interview with the U.S. News and World Report, to be published next week.
"The White House is completely disconnected from reality," the Nebraska Republican added. "It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."
Hagel's remarks are the most direct criticism of Bush's Iraq policy to date from a member of Bush's own Republican party.
"I got beat up pretty good by my own party and the White House that I was not a loyal Republican," he said, but noted that things are changing saying that "More and more of my colleagues up here are concerned."
On Sunday, Republican Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called on the Bush administration to tell Americans the reality in Iraq.
In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" he said that the American people often have been told that "we are at a turning point" in Iraq.
"What the American people should have been told and should be told ... it's long; it's hard; it's tough," McCain said.
"It's going to be at least a couple more years," he added.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted that the fighting put up by the rebels is in its "last throes," but continuing violence in Iraq underscores the unabated bloodshed.
Although there are some hopeful signs in Iraq, Cheney's characterization was inaccurate, McCain said.
"I don't think Americans believe that we should cut and run out of Iraq by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "But I think they also would like to be told, in reality, what's going on," he said.
CIA Director Porter Goss,said that though Cheney's assessment was not quit accurate it was not too far off-mark.
"I think they're not quite in the last throes, but I think they are very close to it," Goss told Time magazine in an interview.
But Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Goss' statement did not line up with what he heard on a recent visit to Iraq.
"I wish Porter Goss would speak to his intelligence people on the ground," Biden said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
"They didn't suggest at all it was near its last throes. Matter of fact it's getting worse, not better," Biden said.
Another critic of the administration's policy of not speaking the truth added his voice.
Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said on ABC's "This Week": "It's important the administration quit trying to pretend everything is going very well here. It's not."
Recent polls showed that support among American citizens for Bush's Iraq policy have slumped to their lowest ever point and numerous lawmakers, including some Republicans, have accused him of not offering honest assessments about the strength of the anti-occupation fighters and the slow pace of training Iraq forces.