Hagel puts his finger in the wind

The unpopularity of Bush and Bush's war presents Republican candidates with a dilemma. Either they state their continuing support for Bush and adventurism in the Middle East — thus losing the majority of the electorate which is against the war — or they risk alienating their core support. Expect a lot of dancing around this question.

And now, at least one very powerful Republican, Chuck Hagel, has made it clear where he stands. He compared Iraq to Vietnam, said that "stay the course" is not a policy, and said that we are not winning. And he added:

"I don't know where he's going to get these troops," Hagel said. "There won't be any National Guard left ... no Army Reserve left ... there is no way America is going to have 100,000 troops in Iraq, nor should it, in four years."
Hagel added: "It would bog us down, it would further destabilize the Middle East, it would give Iran more influence, it would hurt Israel, it would put our allies over there in Saudi Arabia and Jordan in a terrible position. It won't be four years. We need to be out."

Technorati Tags: Bush, Iraq, US politics