Lugar Has Little Say Over U.S. Policies on Iraq

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/20040422/ts_latimes/lugarhaslittlesayoveruspoliciesoniraq&cid=2026&ncid=1480

<snip>
It was Lugar, after all, who pressured President Reagan to shift gears and back Corazon Aquino as the newly elected head of the Philippines in 1986. And five years later, it was Lugar who defied GOP conservatives and played a key role in giving the former Soviet Union hundreds of millions of dollars to safeguard its nuclear weapons.

Now, however, as Iraq (news - web sites) teeters on the brink of chaos and U.S. casualties soar, Lugar has played no significant role in one of the most critical foreign policy issues of his career. The Bush administration has openly ignored him. And, to the disappointment of admirers in both parties, Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has held back from forcing the issue.

In part, Lugar's isolation is symptomatic of how little Congress is being consulted by the administration. It also reflects the extent to which political polarization now casts its shadow over policy debates in Washington. And in part, Lugar's lack of impact on Iraq policy may reflect his own decisions about how cautious to be in expressing his concerns.

To be sure, Indiana's senior senator is one of only a handful of congressional Republicans willing to express even the slightest concern about President Bush (news - web sites)'s policies in Iraq. In recent weeks, he suggested that more troops were needed, pointedly asked who would rule in Baghdad's planned new government, and questioned whether Bush's June 30 deadline for turning over power is realistic

[Leilani]

1. I just watched a Lugar hearing on C-Span

Sen Lugar is having 3 days of hearings this week on Iraq. No administration officials attended, which goes to show what Bush thinks of Congress.

Biden, Chafee, Hagel, Feingold, Boxer all criticized the Administration, but Bush just blew them off. And the media just ignores this stuff.

[wildwww2]

2. The media would have to peek out of Bu$h Inc`s pocket to do that.

And that will never happen. Until there is something more important than innocent Iraqi`s and our troops being murdered. A Democrats penis. Now that would wake the media up right away. On with the dick chase. Forget about the dicks ruining the world.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President