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February 09, 2007
Collins on Iraq
MSNBC interviews Senator Susan Collins, who voted to authorize the war in Iraq when it was politically expedient, only to have a "change of heart" now that the war is less popular.
Do you see any contradiction between supporting McCain, who is in favor of escalating the war, and your current role now in trying to stop the escalation?As much as I disagree with McCain on many issues, the senator from Arizona understands much better than Collins the stakes in the current war against terrorism. I think we've made mistakes in the war - serious ones - and we need to change our rules of engagement. I don't know how much the surge will help, but I trust the military expertise of General Petraeus more than I do Collins.
No, because there isn’t going to be any candidate who I agree with 100 percent. This is a major issue, and I’m sure that John wishes he hadn’t taken me on the trip (to Iraq) with him in December. That’s the real irony. I came back absolutely convinced that additional troops were a mistake, and he came back reinforced in his previously held position that they were needed.It fascinates me how two people can look at the same situation and come away with completely different views.
I’ve never seen a more stunning example of it. I, at times, think, gee, were we in the same meetings?
This surge, and the increasingly aggressive tactics in Iraq, are the Bush administration's last hope to defeat the national fatigue that has taken over when that war is discussed. Honestly, though, I wish the president had the ability and willingness to articulate the reasons for the war more clearly and more often. That he has not done so is a major failure of leadership for this administration - one that threatens the war effort.
Of course, that effort is also not helped when self-serving politicians like Collins concern themselves more with getting re-elected than with what might be best for those who put themselves in harm's way in Iraq.
Posted by slublog at February 9, 2007 12:00 AM
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