April 12, 2008

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Democratic Senator Joe Biden and GOP Senator Richard Lugar appeared on this morning's Late Edition and one thing was clear: they both agreed that the Petraeus/Crocker report card on Iraq showed nearly zero success and demonstrates how our drawn-out occupation has hurt our security, our military and our economy and clearly shows that President Bush is punting on the troops and the American people, leaving the next president to deal with his mess. Sen. Lugar speaks in realistic terms that are both rare and refreshing to hear from a Republican:

Blitzer: "Is the U.S. military over stretched to the point that it can't get the missions done with, Senator Lugar?"

Lugar: "Well, the testimony seems to be to that effect. That is, that we simply do not have, presently, enough armed forces to accomplish or missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, quite apart from anything else that might occur in the world. And yet, in this hearing on Iraq, Iran kept being mentioned. That that the Iranians are intruding, a proxy war is being fought. In other words, it was almost as if we were justifying our continued presence in Iraq with the fact that we may be in a conflict in Iran and furthermore, the al Qaeda wherever they may be. It's a very confusing picture, to say the least. Now, it seems to me we're going to have to come to grips with what is possible in Iraq and what kind of forces are required for that, but we're certainly not at that point in the hearings. This is - I agree with Joe Biden, was simply punting the thing down the road and probably into the next administration and whoever the candidates may be right now, they face a awesome task of turning around a situation that really has not been resolved during this administration."

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