Republicans Hagel and Lugar see trouble in Iraq

Hagel and Lugar not only see trouble in Iraq, they are talking about it. Senators See Budget Shift on Iraq as Sign of Trouble".

Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said today that the Bush administration's request to divert more than $3 billion from reconstruction work in Iraq to security measures was a sign that the American campaign in Iraq is in serious trouble.

"Although we recognize these funds must not be spent unwisely," the committee chairman, Senator Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana, said, "the slow pace of reconstruction spending means that we are failing to fully take advantage of one of our most potent tools to influence the direction of Iraq."

Mr. Lugar expressed his concerns as two State Department officials came before the committee seeking permission to divert more than $3.4 billion in reconstruction funds to security efforts. The request came a day after one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in recent months.

Senator Chuck Hagel was even more to the point:

Mr. Hagel praised the two State Department officials, Ronald Schlicher, the deputy assistant secretary for Iraq, and Joseph Bowab, the deputy assistant secretary for foreign assistance, for the "directness and the honesty" they were showing in asking for the fund diversion.

Mr. Hagel said the State Department request was "a clear acknowledgment that we are not holding ourselves hostage to some grand illusion that we're winning."

Mr. Hagel went on to say that the request for reprogramming the money "does not add up, in my opinion, to a pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we're winning. But it does add up to this, an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble."

The two Republican Senators drew a response from the the White House which never likes reality.

The White House asserted that progress was being made in Iraq. "You know, every step of the way in Iraq there have been pessimists and hand-wringers who said it can't be done," Scott McClellan, the chief White House spokesman, said at a news briefing. "And every step of the way, the Iraqi leadership and the Iraqi people have proven them wrong because they are determined to have a free and peaceful future."

So, Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar are pessimists and handwringers. Well guess what, they are also right. The reality is that no matter who wins in November the U.S. is going to be driven by the Iraqis' and pulled by the Americans out of the Iraqi quagmire within months. The sooner it happens the less people will die. It won't take as long as Vietnam because we did learn something from that dreadful war not just all we should have.