A Game of Dirty Politics

The cynical side of me believes this is a game of dirty politics. It is, after all, an election season. It's apparent that the Republican presidential candidates are distancing themselves from President Bush. Key Republican senators are also calling for a new direction in Iraq. Is it possible they are just trying to appeal to wary American voters who want an end to this war?

"The costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved," Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) said last week, "Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting our vital interests over the long term."

Sen. Lugar was among the key GOP lawmakers who supported a troop surge in Iraq last January.

Sen. Peter Domenici (R-NM) has also changed his position on the Iraq war.

"We cannot continue asking our troops to sacrifice indefinitely while the Iraqi government is not making measurable progress," Domenici said. "I do not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a reduction in funding for our troops. But I do support a new strategy that will move our troops out of combat operations and on the path to coming home."

Sen. Domenici claims his stance on the war has changed late last month after several conversations with family members of dead soldiers from his home state of New Mexico. Domenici embraced a new legislative proposal to reshape U.S. policy around the 79 recommendations of the Iraq Study Group.

Adding insult to injury, the Sacramento Bee reports, "Rep. John Doolittle, questioning whether the Iraq war is worth the continued loss of American lives, said Thursday that US troops should be pulled back from the front lines 'as soon as possible'" and "the fighting should be turned over to Iraqi forces." The "criticism came from an archconservative Republican who had campaigned with Bush and long repeated the president's refrain that Iraq is a central front in the war on terror."

In a related story, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, "Republicans will have the opportunity to not just say the right things on Iraq but vote the right way, too, so that we can bring the responsible end to this war that the American people demand and deserve."

Democrats will have that opportunity as well. But as the Defense authorization bill comes up next week, can we take Sen. Reid's word for granted, knowing he was in favor of funding the Iraq war without a timetable six weeks ago?